IC-NRLF 


Ml    7MS 


ORAN  M.  ROBERTS. 


A  DESCRIPTION  OF  TEXAS, 


ITS  ADVANTAGES  AND  RESOURCES, 


-WITH- 


SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  THEIR  DEVELOPMENT, 

PAST,  PRESENT  fflD  FUTURE. 


Q' "  A  plain  tale  you've  told, — 

Very  plain  to  be  written  ?" 
A. "  Yes,  indeed  it  is, — -when  written." 


BY 

O.  M.  ROBERTS, 

PRESENT   GOVERNOR    OF  TEXAS. 


ST.    LOUIS,    MO.: 

GILBERT  BOOK  CO., 
1881. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1881, 

BY    THE  GILBERT  BOOK  Co. 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


DEDICATION. 

This  little  work  is  respectfully  dedicated  to  the  Texan  far 
mers,  upon  whose  labors,  rightly  directed,  the  material  pros 
perity  of  Texas  must  largely  depend,  and  whose  intelligence 
and  integrity  in  public  affairs  must  be  relied  on  to  sustain 
good  government  in  this  country ;  on  the  principle  that  the 
civilization  capable  of  republican,  local  self-government  begins 
and  ends  with  the  plow. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


PREFACE. 

AUSTIN,  TEXAS,  August  loth,   1881. 

To  THE  PUBLISHER  : — 

You  request  me  to  write  some  personal  reminiscences  as  a 
preface  or  introduction  to  the  work  which  you  are  publishing 
for  me. 

Nothing  appears  to  me  as  being  more  appropriate  than  an 
explanation  of  how  it  happened  that  I,  a  small  farmer,  a  law 
yer  and  a  judge,  most  of  the  time,  during  a  residence  of  nearly 
forty  years  in  Texas,  should  have  collected  the  materials  for 
such  a  work,  while  busily  engaged  in  my  ordinary  puigguits. 
Having  settled  in  San  Augustine  in  eastern  Texas  in  1841, 1  en 
tered  upon  my  professional  pursuits  in  the  manner  then  com 
mon  in  the  country.     That  was  then  the  legal  and  political 
center  of  a  large  portion   of  the  surrounding  country.     The 
district  courts,  (corresponding  to  the  circuit  courts  in  other 
states)  were  then  held  during  the  spring  and  fall  months  of 
the  year.     It  was  not  unusual  when  the  times  for  holding  them 
arrived,  to  see  a  dozen  lawyers  with  the  judge,   mount  their 
horses,  with  saddle-bags,    blanket,    and   tie-rope,  and,   thus 
equipped,  start  on  their  journey  around  the  district,  which  then 
embraced  many  counties  spreading  over  a  large  scope   of 
country.     As  some  of  them  would  drop  off,  and  not  go  around 
the  whole  circuit,  others  would  fill  their  places,  so  that  about 
an  equal  number  of  traveling  lawyers  joined  to  the  local  bar, 
would  be  met  with  at  nearly  every  court.     This  mode  of  prac 
tice  was  kept  up  until  the  late  civil  war,  after  which  the  mem 
bers  of  the  bar  became  more  and  more  localized  in  their  prac 
tice. 


IV  PREFACE. 


At  once  adopting  the  habit  of  following  the  circuit  in  which 
I  located,  I  traveled  over  a  wide  scope  of  country,  from  the 
Sabine  to  the  Trinity  Rivers,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles.  We  encountered  the  usual  hardships  of  travel  in 
a  new  and  sparsely  settled  country,  from  rains  and  storms, 
often  having  to  swim  creeks  and  the  sloos  of  rivers.  Upon 
one  occasion,  being  the  youngest  man  in  the  party,  I  had  the 
honor  of  being  selected  to  swim  the  Neches  River  on  horse 
back  to  bring  over  the  ferry-boat  from  the  opposite  side, 
where  it  was  fastened.  On  such  trips  we  often  met  with 
Methodist  itinerant  preachers,  going  to  or  coming  from  confer 
ence,  and  we  aided  each  other  in  crossing  streams,  they  com 
ing  up  on  one  side  and  we  on  the  other.  The  universal  hospi 
tality  of  the  settlers  was  a  solacing  relief  to  all  of  our  fatigues 
of  travel.  Night  or  day  their  doors  were  thrown  open,  and  a 
hearty  welcome  was  given  to  share  whatever  they  had,  usually 
without  money  and  without  price.  Their  humble  fare,  season 
ed  with  their  unobtrusive  kindness,  was  far  more  refreshing 
than  the  artistic  dishes  of  modern  hotels.  I  was  never  re 
fused  admittance  for  the  night  but  once.  Traveling  with  a 
young  friend  in  a  section  of  the  country  where  the  houses  were 
from  five  to  ten  miles  apart,  just  before  dark,  when  a  misting 
norther  was  just  coming  up,  we  called  at  a  lone  cabin  and 
asked  the  man  of  the  house  to  let  us  stay  all  night.  He  re 
plied  that  he  could  not  take  us  in,  because  his  wife  was  sick. 
I  answered  that  I  could  probably  give  assistance,  having  medi 
cines  along  with  me  which  I  usually  carried.  He  then  said 
he  had  no  feed  for  our  horses.  I  replied  that  we  could  tie 
them  up,  and  feed  the  next  day ;  shelter  from  the  coming 
storm  was  what  we  wanted.  He  answered,  well,  you  can't  stay. 
I  asked  him  how  far  it  was  to  the  next  house,  and  what  about 
the  road  to  get  there.  He  said  it  was  a  plain  road  of  six 
miles  to  the  next  house,  where  a  Norwegian  lived,  that  by 
taking  a  left-hand  path  just  before  we  got  to  a  creek,  we  could 
cross  it  just  above  the  ford  without  swimming,  as  we  would 
have  to  do  if  we  crossed  at  the  ford,  and  that  we  could  reach  the 
creek  before  it  got  full  dark.  We  lost  no  time  in  getting  to 
the  creek  and  crossing  it  as  directed;  and  putting  on  our 
blankets,  and  adjusting  our  baggage,  not  then  being  able  to 
see  our  hands  before  us,  we  put  our  horses  in  the  road  side 


PREFACE. 


by  side,  gave  them  the  bridle-reins,  and  went  in  a  sweeping 
trot  the  six  miles,  where  we  were  hospitably  entertained  ;  and 
then  for  the  first  and  only  time  in  my  life,  I  slept  on  one 
feather  bed,  with  another  for  a  covering. 

At  that  early  day  there  was  much — much  in  the  character 
and  habits  of  the  people  of  all  classes  and  occupations ; — 
much  in  the  varied  characteristics  of  the  country,  then  seen  al 
most  in  a  state  of  Nature,  being  occupied  only  by  villages  and 
farms,  small  and  far  between  each  other, — much  in  the  varied 
productions  to  the  extent  then  exhibited, — much  in  the  history 
and  institutions  of  the  country  to  arrest  the  attention  and 
excite  the  investigations  of  an  inquiring  mind.  The  lawyers 
with  whom  I  associated  were,  for  the  most  part,  men  of  great 
intellectual  vigor,  and  of  distinctive  characters,  no  two  of 
them  being  alike  in  their  leading  attributes.  So  with  other 
citizens,  a  strong  individuality  and  a  general  intelligence  in 
common  sense  matters  characterized  them.  Men  of  no  class 
seemed  to  be  built  on  any  common  pattern  in  anything,  but 
each  stood  out  for  himself,  a  unit  in  the  association  of  people 
here  thrown  together  from  different  localities.  There  were 
men  who  had  settled  in  the  country  as  far  back  as  1822,  and 
had  passed  through  and  participated  in  all  of  the  revolutions 
that  had  transpired,  some  of  them  as  officers  in  the  army,  and 
others  as  officers  in  civil  life.  Most  of  them  were  familiar 
with  the  stirring  events  of  the  past,  and  had  leisure  and  will 
ingness  to  freely  communicate  them.  The  old  settlers  knew 
each  other  often  for  hundreds  of  miles  distant.  Thus  the  op 
portunity  was  furnished  to  learn  much  of  the  past  history,  the 
institutions  and  the  men  of  Texas. 

Though  the  region  of  country  over  which  I  first  traveled 
was  small  in  extent,  compared  to  all  of  the  territory  of  Texas, 
it  presented  a  great  variety,  in  almost  everything,  in  the  dif 
ferent  parts  of  it, — different  in  its  soils,  its  growth  of  trees 
shrubs,  vines,  and  grasses,  as  well  as  in  its  streams  of  water* 
its  farm,  garden  and  orchard  products.  Having  some  learning 
in  the  natural  sciences,  I  very  soon  began  to  notice  and  fix  in 
my  mind  the  facts  constituting  those  marked  differences,  and, 
without  any  specific  object  in  so  doing,  commenced  to  in 
vestigate  the  reasons  therefor.  In  a  few  years  my  business 
led  me  to  extend  these  researches  from  Red  River  to  the  Gulf 


VI  PREFACE. 


coast,  and  as  far  west  as  Fort  Worth  and  Austin,  and  after 
wards  to  San  Antonio  in  the  west.  Throughout  all  the  coun- 
trytover  which  I  passed  I  discovered  these  differences,  in  the 
condition  of  things  in  different  sections,  to  have  largely  in 
creased,  which  furnished  a  still  wider  field  for  my  investiga 
tion.  To  this  was  added  the  reading  of  everything  I  could 
find,  and  conversations  with  well-informed  persons,  calculated 
to  give  me  information  about  other  sections  of  the  state  over 
which  I  had  not  traveled.  One  very  great  advantage  of  trav 
eling  over  the  country  then,  was,  that  it  was  done  on  horse 
back,  or  in  stages,  which  gave  much  greater  opportunities  for 
observing  all  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  different  sections  of 
the  country,  than  the  present  mode  of  traveling  by  railroads. 
There  never  having  been,  as  yet,  but  a  very  limited  geological 
survey,  or,  indeed,  a  survey  of  any  kind,  by  which  accurate 
information  could  be  obtained  on  many  subjects  treated  of,  I 
have  had  to  rely,  in  this  work,  on  the  best  information  that 
I  could  otherwise  obtain. 

Having  collected  and  preserved  many  facts  pertaining  to 
Texas,  and  being  engaged  in  teaching  a  law  class  in  the  years 
of  1868,  1869,  and  1870,  I  delivered  to  the  students  occa 
sional  lectures,  embracing  much  of  what  is  here  presented, 
with  a  view  to  give  those  young  gentlemen  a  good  general 
knowledge  of  the  varied  characteristics  and  vast  resources  of 
the  state  in  which  they  expected  to  spend  their  lives.  Since 
then  it  has  been  put  in  the  present  shape,  and  is  now  publish 
ed  to  give  such  general  information  as  it  contains,  and  es 
pecially  to  stimulate  others,  who  may  have  more  time  and 
better  opportunites,  to  correct  whatever  may  have  been  wrong 
fully  presented,  and  to  give  a  more  exact  and  extensive  view 
of  the  extraordinary  qualities  and  vast  resources  of  Texas. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS, 


|in 

\  ' 
CHAPTER  I.— DELAY  IN  SETTLING. 

Causes  of  the  delay  in  settling  Texas.  Want  of  ports  of  entry  favorable  to  the 
landing  of  civilized  immigrants  from  Europe.  Remoteness  from  the  Centres 
of  Civilization,  in  Mexico  and  United  States. 

Labor  the  Source  of  National  Wealth. 

Causes  of  delay  in  developing  its  material  industries.  Inhabited  by  tribes  of 
Indians,  then  by  Mexicans  ;  and  then  by  Anglo-Americans  under  unfavorable 
circumstances. 

Rapid  progress  after  annexation  to  the  United  States. 

The  great  loss  from  the  result  of  the  civil  war.  To  individual,  more  than  to 
national  wealth,  dependent  upon  the  investment  of  surplus  labor  in  slaves 
set  free.  The  precarious  condition  of  a  peculiar  property,  held  at  the  will 
of  public  opinion. 

A  partial  enumeration  of  the  great  and  varied  resources  of  Texas  ;  adequate  for 
an  empire, — a  stimulus  to  elevate  her  people. 

Land  donations,  and  other  benefits  conferred,  to  encourage  immigration,  produc 
tion,  commerce  and  education. 

Stands  on  a  surer  foundation  than  ever  before,  in  respect  to  individual  prosperity. 

CHAPTER  II. — PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

Its  position  in  the  continent,  its  relations  to  the  Gulf  of^Mexico,  the  Rocky  and 
Alleghany  ledges  of  mountains,  the  Mississippi  river  and  valley,  and  to  the 
great  plains  of  the  west;  the  influence  of  all  these  upon  the  climate  of  the 
different  parts  of  Texas. 

The  dryness  and  warmth  of  the  west,  and  the  moisture  of  the  east,  explained ;  the 
isothermal  lines  indicated. 

The  droughts ;  two  rainy  seasons  ;  and  also  the  northers,  with  their  causes  and 
effects. 

The  principal  elements  of  production  ;  moisture,  heat,  pulverization  capacity,  and 
mineral  fertilization  of  the  soil,  appropriately  combined  ;  each  of  the  four 
giving  character  to  the  four  grand  natural  divisions  of  Texas — with  the  pecu 
liar  effects  of  each  there  manifested  in  its  productions. 

Prairies  and  heavy  forests,  with  the  causes  that  produced  them. 

The  value,  as  a  portion  of  the  national  wealth,  of  Texas,  of  its  virgin  soils  and 
subsoils,  and  a  mode  of  approximately  estimating  them. 

The  study  of  the  various  peculiarities  of  each  section  lays  the  foundation  for  a 
general  knowledge  on  the  subject  of  production,  upon  which  the  prosperity  of 
Texas  greatly  depends. 

vii 


viii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  III. — GREAT  VARIETY  OF  PRODUCTIONS. 

Great  variety  of  natural  and  artificial  productions  exhibited  in  passing  through 
Texas  on  a  line  from  east  to  west,  and  from  south  to  north,  and  its  extent  in 
latitude  and  longitude. 

Its  division  by  regular  belts  of  country,  with  the  characteristics  of  each ;  the 
Level  Gulf  prairie  belt ;  the  Long-leaf  Pine  belt ;  the  Magnolia  belt ;  the  Red- 
Land  belt ;  the  Black  Jack  belt ;  the  Short-leaf  Pine  district ;  the  Black,  Limy 
Prairie  belt ;  the  Mountains  and  Cross-timbers  ;  the  High  Grazing  Plains  and 
Valleys ;  the  Staked  Plain.  "Llano  Estacado" 

The  effects  upon  bottom  lands  of  rivers  that  flow  from  and  through  these  belts. 


CHAPTER  IV. — COMPARISON  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  BELTS. 

A  comparison  of  the  different  belts  of  country,  with  reference  to  the  productions 
in  each,  and  with  the  reasons  therefor. 

The  tendency  to  increase  the  fruit-bearing  in  trees  and  crops,  as  the  wood-pro 
ducing  capacity  diminishes,  and  to  what  extent,  as  exhibited  in  the  different 
belts  of  country  that  are  found  in  Texas. 

Bottom  lands  in  Texas.  How  they  are  formed,  and  the  different  kinds  in  the  dif 
ferent  rivers  and  other  streams  in  Texas.  Their  qualities,  and  how  they  may, 
or  may  not,  be  redeemed  from  overflows.  When  overflows  are  necessary,  and 
when  not  to  preserve  their  fertility. 

Benefits  of  generalization  and  classification  in  the  description  of  a  country. 


CHAPTER  V.— NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH. 

Natural  sources  of  wealth  in  Texas  in  its  minerals  and  timbers ;  and  trees,  shrubs, 
plants  and  flowers,  as  objects  of  utility  and  ornament 

Coal  and  coal  oil.  A  vein  of  lignite  from  the  Sabine  River  to  the  Rio  Grande 
and  coal  in  different  places. 

Copper  in  northern  Texaf.  Gold  and  silver — the  tradition  concerning  them,  &c. 
Iron  abounding  in  the  east  and  found  in  the  west.  Rocks  for  buildings, 
fences,  and  other  purposes,  found  in  almost  every  region. 

Gypsum,  clay,  marl  and  sand. 

Fertility  of  soil  largely  dependent  on  character  of  the  sub-soils, — interesting  ex 
ceptions  in  parts  of  eastern  Texas  and  the  reason  therefor. 

Wood  and  fencing.  Post-oak — the  great  fencing  timber  of  the  prairies,  &c. 
Red-oak  and  Black-oak  in  the  east  Cedar — its  localities  and  use  for  fencing. 
Pine  timber  in  south-eastern  Texas, — its  amount  and  the  advantages  connected 
with  it.  Cypress-timber  in  same  locality.  Hickory  and  white-oak  in  the  east 
for  wagons  and  carriages.  Bois  D'Arc  timber  in  northern  Texas  its  uses  and 
value.  Live-oak  of  the  south  and  west,  its  boundary  and  extent  Pecan,  its 
locality  and  value.  Musquite  of  the  prairies. 

Hedges     great  profit  of    must  be  made  of  a  plant  or  shrub.     The  Prickly  Pear 
its  uses  as  a  hedge  and  otherwise.     The  Pappaw  and  persimmon — their  uses. 
Other  trees,  plants  and  flowers. 

Cordage — Bear  grass  in  eastern  and  middle  Texas  good  for  ropes,  &c.,  its  uses. 
Medicinal  trees  and  plants,  large  number  specified.  Wood-growing — the 
China  tree  and  tree  of  Paradise.  The  valuable  lessons  taught  by  the  forests 
of  a  country. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  ix 

CHAPTER  VI.— NATURAL  WEALTH  AS  FOUND  IN   ITS  WA 
TERS. 

The  natural  wealth  of  Texas,  as  found  in  its  waters.  For  common  use — their 
quality  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  Mineral  waters  of  medicinal  vir 
tues.  The  sour  lake,  and  Lampassas  springs,  &c.  Salines  in  the  east  and 
in  the  west.  Water  power —  very  great  in  the  west  and  some  in  the  east 
For  navigation — extent  and  character  of.  Coast  canal — its  advantages  and 
practicability.  For  fish,  oysters,  &c.,  very  good. 

Wild  game.  Buffalo  and  Elk  disappeared.  Deer,  Turkeys,  Prairie  hens,  Par 
tridges,  &c.,  Bears,  Panthers,  Wolves,  &c.,  determine  the  natural  fertility  of  a 
country — the  reason.  Other  animals,  and  some  beautiful  birds. 

Atmospheric  benefits — in  wind  power,  in  health,  in  production  of  crops,  and  in 
increased  capacity  to  labor  physically  and  intellectually. 

Canes  and  reeds,  as  food  for  stock  and  for  market  particularly  in  the  south  and 
east. 

Grasses.  For  natural  pastures.  The  musquite  grass  in  the  west ;  the  milo  grass 
in  the  east,  and  others.  Why  pasturage  is  so  beneficial  to  a  country,  how  it 
may  be  secured,  and  the  immense  profit  it  is  and  has  been  to  western  Texas. 
The  reason  why  dry  countries  are  the  best  for  grazing.  The  pests  of  Texas.- 
Cotton  worms,  grasshoppers,  &c. 

CHAPTER  VII.— CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS. 

Modes  of  cultivation  of  crops  in  Texas  to  obtain  the  advantages,  and  to  relieve 
against  the  disadvantages,  peculiar  to  the  Texas  climates  and  soils.  Periods 
of  the  growth  of  different  crops.  How  the  excessive  wet  of  spring  and 
dryness  of  summer  are  to  be  guarded  against. 

The  late  frosts,  their  causes  and  effects,  and  how  relieved  against  both  in  crops 
and  orchard  fruits.  Some  examples  of  successful  "farming  in  raising  corn, 
cotton  and  potatoes,  and  the  principles  evolved  therefrom.  Adaptation  of 
the  different  parts  of  the  state  to  different  crops  and  orchard  fruits. 

Orchards,  their  value  and  adaptation  to,  and  mode  of  planting,  pruning,  and  cul 
tivating  with  the  soils  best  adapted  to  them,  and  how  the  disadvantages  of 
each  section  are  to  be  remedied,  and  advantages  of  our  climate  turned  to 
profit.  Grapes,  native  and  cultivated  in  different  parts,  adaptation  to,  uses  of. 

Horses  and  cattle,  modes  of  raising  in  the  past  and  present.  Arts  of  horsemanship 
and  of  throwing  the  rope,  necessary  accomplishment,  how  attained  and  per 
formed.  Mexican  saddle. 

Swine.  Modes  of  raising,  past  and  present.  Managed  with  hog-dogs,  and  how. 
Dependence  on  the  masts,  and  how  benefits  obtained.  Improved  stock. 

Sheep.  Large  section  adapted  to, — adaptation  established.  Profits  of  their  best 
locality  in  a  delightful  country. 

CHAPTER  VIII.— MODES   OF   TRAVEL. 

Modes  of  transportation  and  travel — past  and  present, — in  Texas. 
Trains  of  pack  mules,  how  managed. 

Wagons,  and  horse  and  ox  teams,  how  managed.  The  great  benefits  of  the  ox 
teams  to  Texas,  in  cheapness  of  cost  and  expense. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VIII.— MODES  OF  TRAVEL.— CONCLUDED. 

The  two-horse  wagons  introduced  since  the  war,  and  why. 

Travel  on  horseback,  in  stages,  and  in  private  carriages  and  buggies, rough 

roads. 

Railroads — their  extent  and  sudden  construction,  their  great  and  varied  advantages 
to  Texas  at  present,  and  glowing  prospects  in  the  future.  Must  be  the  com 
mon  mode  of  transportation  throughout  the  civilized  world,  and  why. 

Steam-power  and  telegraph  revolutionizing  the  industrial  pursuits,  and  conse 
quently  the  moral,  social  and  political  status  of  mankind,  and  raising  them 
to  a  higher  plane  of  civilization.  Other  anterior  stages  considered  with  their 
moving  causes;  discoveries  of  use  of  metals,  gunpowder  and  printing  press 
The  mainspring  of  civilization  developed. 

Manufactories — advantages  of,  and  prospect  of  increasing,  &c. 

Individual   wealth — modes   of  honorably  acquiring  it  in  Texas  heretofore  and 


CHAPTER     I. 
CAUSES  OF  THE  DELAY  IN  SETTLING  TEXAS. 


Causes  of  the  delay  in  settling  Texas.  Want  of  ports  of  entry  favorable  to  the 
landing  of  civilized  immigrants  from  Europe.  Remoteness  from  the  Centres 
of  Civilization,  in  Mexico  and  United  States. 

Labor  the  Source  of  National  Wealth. 

Causes  of  delay  in  developing  its  material  industries.  Inhabited  by  tribes  of 
Indians,  then  by  Mexicans  ;  and  then  by  Anglo-Americans  under  unfavorable 
circumstances. 

Rapid  progress  after  annexation  to  the  United  States. 

The  great  loss  from  the  result  of  the  civil  war.  To  individual,  more  than  to 
national  wealth,  dependent  upon  the  investment  of  surplus  labor  in  slaves 
set  free.  The  precarious  condition  of  a  peculiar  property,  held  at  the  will 
of  public  opinion. 

A  partial  enumeration  of  the  great  and  varied  resources  of  Texas  ;  adequate  for 
an  empire, — a  stimulus  to  elevate  her  people. 

Land  donations,  and  other  benefits  conferred,  to  encourage  immigration,  produc 
tion,  commerce  and  education. 

Stands  on  a  surer  foundation  than  ever  before,  in  respect  to  individual  prosperity. 

Texas  is  a  country  of  remarkable  characteristics.  Its  varied 
resources  are  adequate  to  a  self-sustaining  empire.  It  em 
braces  within  its  borders  all  of  the  productions  of  the  temper 
ate  zone,  and  some  of  those  of  the  tropics.  It  has  almost 
every  variety  of  fertile  soils,  of  valuable  timbers,  minerals, 
waters  and  climates  (except  the  permanently  cold).  It  has  a 
vast  plain,  resting  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  extending  from 
the  coast  to  the  base  of  the  mountains,  and  cross-timbers,  at  an 
altidude  of  about  six  hundred  feet ;  above  which  rises  rapidly 
rugged  hills,  and  broad  prairie  plains,  traversed  by  rich  val 
leys,  ascending  north-westwardly  to  the  "Staked  Plain," 
which  is  a  table-land,  about  four  thousand  feet  high, 
connected  with  the  Rocky  mountains.  In  every  part  of  its 
broad  area  there  lies  some  source  of  wealth,  and  often  many 
of  them,  awaiting  the  touch  of  labor  to  spring  into  form  and 
value. 

Why,  then,  it  may  well  be  asked,  has  Texas  so  long 
remained  a  new  country,  sparsely  settled,  and  but  little  devel- 
2  17 


1 8  DELAY  IN  SETTLING. 


Want  of  ports — Remoteness — Class  of  Inhabitants. 


oped  ?  It  is  not  because  it  was  so  long  unknown,  for  San 
Antonio  and,  perhaps,  also,  Nacogdoches,  were  settled  in  the 
early  part  of  the  last  century,  the  same  year  that  Philadelphia 
was  founded.  These  towns  were  merely  military  out-posts  of 
occupation,  for  a  hundred  years  or  more,  with  very  few  settle 
ments  around  them.  A  reason  for  the  long  deferred  settle 
ment  of  this  country  is  found  in  the  fact,  that  there  was  no 
good  port  of  entry  on  the  Gulf  Coast,  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  River  to  Vera  Cruz,  which  includes  our  whole 
sea  front.  Civilization  was  imported  into  America  in  immi 
grant  ships  from  Europe,  that  naturally  sought  good  ports  of 
entry  for  landing,  from  which  the  foreign  population  was 
spread  out  in  the  interior,  and  the  savages  driven  back. 
Thus,  while  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  were  teeming"  with  a 

o 

civilized  population  on  one  side,  and  great  cities  were  rising 
up  over  the  central  part  of  Mexico  on  the  other,  the  Texas 
coast  furnished  a  hiding  place  for  pirates  and  freebooters,  and 
her  broad  plains  were  roamed  over,  for  the  most  part,  by  the 
Comanches  and  other  savage  tribes  of  native  Indians. 

Texas  has,  therefore,  ever  heretofore  been  a  country  remote 
from  the  centers  of  civilization,  equally  so  when  part  of  Mex 
ico,  while  an  independent  Republic,  and  when  part  of  the 
United  States. 

Another  reason  for  the  long  deferred  development  of 
Texas  is  found  in  the  character,  habits  and  condition  of  the 
people,  who  have,  from  time  to  time,  inhabited  it. 

That  this  may  be  properly  appreciated,  it  must  be  premised, 
that  labor  is  the  foundation  of  property,  which,  whatever  its 
species,  form  or  value,  over  and  above  the  bounties  of  nature, 
is  but  the  result,  the  fruit  and  representative  of  so  much 
labor.  Permanent  national  wealth  is,  Tor  the  most  part,  the 
current  values  of  labor,  fixed  upon  the  earth  in  the  shape  of 
profitable  improvements  perpetuated  so  as  to  produce  values, 
for  the  present  and  future  generations.  Thus,  we  may  say, 
that  Great  Britain  has  within  it  a  hundred  millions  of  people 
at  work  now,  though  more  than  two-thirds  of  them  are  dead. 
Their  labor,  while  living,  was  perpetuated  in  accumulated 
and  solid  shape,  and  is  now  producing  values,  in  aid  of  those 
who  are  now  living  there. 


DELAY  IN  SETTLING.  19 


Inhabited  by  Indians,  then  by  Mexicans. 


For  centuries  Texas  was  the  home  of  the  roving  Comanches, 
and  other  savage  tribes  of  Indians.  They  neither  plowed 
nor  built,  and  perpetuated  no  labor  for  their  posterity.  The 
grand-sire  and  grand-son  went  through  the  same  round  of 
undivided  labor,  which  was  mainly  to  hunt  something  to  eat, 
steal  horses,  and  to  kill  their  enemies.  Being  expelled,  they 
have  left  behind  them  no  vestige  of  their  long  occupation, 
except  that  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  names  of  a  few 
mountain  peaks  and  water-courses.  They  are  careful,  how 
ever,  to  keep  us  reminded  of  their  existence,  by  their  savage 
depredations  upon  our  frontier  people.  This,  however,  can 
not  last  long ;  for  this  very  savage  nature,  which  causes  them 
to  strike  back  as  they  recede  before  a  superior  race,  draws 
upon  them  their  gradual,  though  ultimate,  extermination. 
This  is  simply  one  of  the  processes  at  work,  by  which  the 
higher  order  of  man  is,  and  *will  continue  to  be,  forced  in 
self-defence,  willing  or  not,  to  take  possession  of,  and  use  the 
earth  everywhere,  carrying  out  the  inexorable  and  perpetu 
ally  operating  law  of  races,  and  of  nations, — to  elevate  or  die. 
Give  the  Comanche  his  horse,  his  bow,  his  buffalo  meat,  and 
his  pecans,  and  all  else, — clothes,  houses,  farms,  cattle,  rail 
roads,  factories,  ships,  cannons,  are  to  him  but  "Vanity  and 
vexation  of  Spirit." 

A  characteristic  remark  is  reported  of  a  Comanche  chief 
who  was  taken  to  Washington  City,  and  there  shown  the 
works  and  wonders  of  civilization.  He  said,  in  substance, 
that  he  was  not  surprised  that  white  men  could  make  all  such 
things,  but  the  wonder  with  him  was,  how  they  first  could 
think  of  wanting  them. 

The  Mexicans  during  a  hundred  years,  under  the  Spanish 
monarchy,  and  afterwards  under  the  Mexican  Republic,  made 
some  progress  in  settling  a  small  part  of  Texas,  and  in  dis 
puting  its  dominion  with  the  Comanches  and  other  tribes. 
They  were,  for  the  most  part,  a  race  of  native  Indians  of  cop 
per  color,  slightly  intermixed  with  Spanish  blood.  They 
were  partial,  in  their  industrial  pursuits,  to  hunting  for  game, 
and  to  the  care  of  herds  of  cattle,  sheep  and  horses ;  and 
their  arts  were,  in  the  mam,  confined  to  a  level  with  their  occu 
pations.  Their  cultivation  of  the  earth  was  very  limited  in 


20  DELAY  IN  SETTLING. 


Struggle  between  the  Indians  and  Mexicans. 

quantity,  and  rude  in  manner.  Their  mode  of  developing 
a  new  country  was  by  laying  off  a  town  with  a  large  tract  of 
land  around  it  for  commons,  establishing  therein  a  military 
post  and  a  Catholic  church,  and  inviting  settlers  to  the  town, 
by  giving  them  lots  therein,  and  lands  in  large  tracts  in  the 
surrounding  country  for  the  establishment  of  stock  farms, 
that  were  the  abodes  of  the  herdsmen,  who,  as  occasion 
might  require,  took  protection  in  the  town  under  the  military, 
and  also  paid  their  visits  there  for  religious  devotion  with  the 
priest.  And  the  town  was  also  the  center  of  attraction  for 
their  dances,  cock  and  bull-fights,  when  the  town  arrived 
at  such  proportions  as  to  afford  the  luxury  of  these  amuse 
ments. 

With  their  standard  of  manhood,  and  arts  of  war,  the 
struggle  with  the  wild  savages  was  long,  and  often  doubtful 
in  maintaining  their  position  in  the  country.  That  difficulty, 
perhaps,  contributed  largely  to  their  invitation  of  the  Anglo- 
Americans  to  share  with  them  their  lands  and  dangers ; 
which,  commencing  formally  in  1821,  resulted  in  establishing 
numerous  colonies  for  the  settlement  of  white  men. 

The  antagonism  of  races  soon  commenced,  and  was  kept 
up  from  various  grounds,  until  the  Anglo-Americans,  by  the 
aid  of  some  noble  Mexicans,  remained  masters  of  the  field, 
and  established  in  Texas  an  independent  Republic  in  1836. 

The  Mexicans  are  now  reduced  to  small  numbers  in  a  few 
localities.  They  have  left  behind  them  one  stone-house  in 
eastern  Texas  ;  (at  Nacogdoches,  which  is  there  called  "the 
stone-house")  one  town  in  western  Texas,  San  Antonio,  now  a 
delightful  city,  the  Bagdad  of  America  ;  also  in  the  west,  the 
wreck  of  some  stone-built  Missions  of  the  olden  time,  and  one 
mule  path,  called  formerly  the  "King's  highway,"  which  may 
yet  be  traced,  by  its  deep,  narrow  beaten  track  in  many  places, 
between  the  Sabine  River  and  the  Rio  Grande.  It  runs  by 
San  Augustine  and  Nacogdoches,  and  by  Bastrop  and  San 
Antonio,  and  has  been  used  to  designate  the  boundaries  of 
Colonial  grants  by  the  former  governments.  [See  Map  I.] 
They  have  left  with  us  the  art  of  throwing  a  rope  in  catching 
animals,  and  some  other  arts  of  stock  raising  and  training, 
including  their  saddle-trees,  spurs,  hats,  and  quirts.  They 


DELAY  IN  SETTLING.  21 


Anglo-Americans  come  to  Texas  as  Colonists. 


have  left  their  names  of  rivers,  and  creeks,  and  of  some 
counties  and  towns.  They  have  left  their  land  measures, 
such  as  varas,  labors,  and  leagues,  their  land-titles,  marital 
rights,  in  modified  form,  and  other  laws,  most  of  which  they 
derived  from  the  Spanish  Civil  Law.  And  they  have  left, 
lingering  in  the  memory  of  many  an  old  Texan,  the  universal 
Christian  charity  and  humanity  of  the  Mexican  women,  who 
were  ever  ready  to  feed,  to  comfort,  and  to  plead  for  mercy 
towards  the  Texan  prisoner  in  time  of  war. 

The  Anglo-Americans,  when  permitted  to  come  to  Texas, 
as  colonists,  and  otherwise,  adopted  a  very  different  mode  of 
settling  a  new  country.  They  went  out  boldly,  spreading 
themselves  over  the  country,  irrespective  of  military  posts,  or 
priests,  or  towns,  and  with  guns  in  hand,  confronted  the  dan 
gers  of  the  Indian  scalping  knife  and  tomahawk;  formed  set 
tlements,  built  cabins,  opened  and  tilled  farms,  and  gathered 
around  them  their  stocks  of  hogs,  sheep,  cattle  and  horses. 
Towns  arose,  as  incidental  to  their  settlements,  as  trade  and 
commerce  required,  and  not  as  the  primary  object,  as  was 
the  case  in  the  Mexican  plan.  Churches  and  school-houses 
were  erected  in  the  settlements  and  towns,  and  a  different 
order  of  civilization  dawned  upon  the  fair  face  of  Texas ; 
agriculture,  being,  as  it  has  always  been  everywhere,  the 
foundation  and  mainspring  of  all  elevated  civilization ;  be 
cause  it  fixes  upon  the  earth  and  perpetuates  labor  more 
permanently  than  any  other  mode  of  life ;  and  makes  it 
necessary  to  build  roads,  open  rivers,  erect  towns,  promote 
commerce,  and  ultimately  manufactories  ;  •  all  of  which  accu 
mulate  and  perpetuate  labor  in  some  shape  or  other  for  fu 
ture  use. 

Notwithstanding  this  change,  however,  but  little  progress 
was  made  in  substantial  material  development,  until  the  an 
nexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States  ;  for  two  reasons  : 
first,  because  most  of  the  early  settlers  occupied  themselves 
in  acquiring  lands,  rather  than  in  improving  them ;  and, 
secondly,  because  property  was  not  sufficiently  secured  to 
encourage  the  investment  of  great  labor  upon  it. 

For  fifteen  years,  from  annexation  to  the  commencement 
of  the  late  civil  war  in  1861,  the  material  development  of 


23  DELAY  IN  SETTLING. 


Rapid  Progress  after  annexation  to  the  United  States. 

Texas  was  indeed  very  great.  During  that  period  there  was 
a  large  influx  of  population  and  wealth,  mostly  in  the  shape 
of  slave-labor.  Forests  fell,  prairies  were  plowed  up,  dwell 
ings,  gin-houses,  mills,  sugar-houses,  churches,  school-houses, 
villages,  towns,  and  cities,  all  sprung  up,  as  if  by  magic  ; 
and  the  lively  energy  of  the  new-comer  infused  increased 
force  and  activity  in  the  habits  of  the  old  settler,  or  drove 
him  to  the  frontier  to  take  care  of  his  vast  herds  of  cattle 
and  horses.  The  two  races,  white  and  black,  worked  to 
gether  in  harmony,  the  relative  status  being  fixed  by  law, 
and  by  traditional  custom.  The  superior  directed  and  took 
care  of  the  inferior.  Bounteous  crops  sprang  from  the  virgin 
soil,  and  general  prosperity  gladdened  the  land,  strewing 
peace  and  plenty  broadcast  over  the  whole  country. 

A  vast  amount  of  the  labor  that  had  been  accumulated  and 
perpetuated,  and  constituted  individual  and  national  wealth 
up  to  the  end  of  that  period,  was  lost  by  the  freedom  of  the 
negroes  at  the  end  of  the  war.  To  understand  the  full  force 
of  this  remark,  it  must  be  considered,  that  the  Southern 
people,  for  a  century  and  a  half  previously,  had  been  largely 
investing  their  surplus  earnings  from  labor  of  all  sorts  in 
negro  slaves ;  that  after  the  cessation  of  the  African  slave 
trade,  (which  was  about  1808,)  and  after  the  full  operation 
of  the  prospective  emancipation  laws  of  the  Northern  States, 
which  sent  their  slaves  down  upon  us  to  be  purchased,  the 
increase  of  that  sort  of  labor  could  only  be  supplied  by  nat 
ural  increase.  Hence,  a  gradual  increase  in  the  price  of  it 
began  and  continued,  so  that  the  same  sort  of  a  negro  slave 
that  was  worth  from  $150  to  $250  in  1808,  was  worth  from 
$1000  to  $1500  in  1860.  A  farm  stocked  with  negroes  was 
a  safe  investment,  and  managed  with  but  little  money-making 
ability ;  and  for  that  reason,  as  well  as  from  confirmed  habit, 
capital  and  industry  sought  continually  that  direction.  This 
investment  worked  in  a  circle,  ending  in  procuring  more  and 
more  labor  by  the  purchase  of  more  slaves  ;  which  was  usu 
ally  the  measure  in  estimating  individual  wealth.  But  little 
was  left  from  this  process  of  accumulation,  for  permanent 
improvements,  either  by  separate  or  co-operative  industries. 
The  investment  in  slaves  was  generally  greater  in  amount 


DELAY  IN  SETTLING.  23 

Progress  not  so  great  as  in  the  Northern  States. 

than  that  in  houses,  farms,  or  other  permanent  improvements. 
While  the  people  of  the  North,  during  the  present  century, 
were  receiving  thousands  of  able-bodied  laboring  immigrants 
from  Europe  annually,  whom  they  had  not  raised,  or  bought, 
(which  was  the  same  as  millions  of  money  cast  upon  them  by 
donation,)  and  while  they,  with  such  aid,  were  opening  canals, 
rivers  and  harbors,  building  railroads,  ships,  factories,  and 
colleges,  and  making  fine  farms  and  farm  residences, 
rearing  great  cities,  and  thereby  fastening  upon  the  soil,  and 
perpetuating  for  the  use  of  future  generations  their  surplus 
labor,  the  people  of  the  South  were  tramping  around  the 
circle  of  the  tread-mill, — buying  more  slaves,  (increasing  in 
price,)  to  make  more  sugar,  cotton,  rice,  and  tobacco,  and 
making  more  of  these  things  to  buy  more  slaves ; — until  their 
slaves  represented  perhaps  one-half  of  the  piled-up  and  per 
petuated  labor  of  themselves  and  ancestors  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years ;  the  whole  of  which  wealth,  as  to  them  indi 
vidually,  a  blast  of  breath  from  the  North  blew  away  as  chaff. 
They  had  invested  their  surplus  labor  upon  the  foundation  of 
the  stability  of  public  opinion  in  a  Republic,  and  lost  it ; 
whereas,  had  it  been  placed  in  valuable  improvements,  fixed 
upon  the  soil,  they,  individually,  might  have  become  bank 
rupt,  and  their  labor  still  have  been  preserved  as  national 
wealth.  The  loss  to  national  wealth  is  not  so  great  as  to 
individual,  because  the  negroes  are  still  left  as  laborers. 
Being  less  efficiently  directed,  much  that  had  been  attained 
in  agricultural  improvements  has  gone  to  waste  for  the  want 
of  sufficient  labor. 

While  the  views  here  presented  will  enable  it  to  be  under 
stood  why  Texas  had  made  no  greater  advance  in  the  per 
manent  improvements,  common  to  other  countries  differently 
situated,  they  will  serve  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  comprehension 
of  .the  condition  of  things  in  Texas,  under  the  new  era  of 
industrial  pursuits,  as  well  as  of  public  affairs,  upon  which  we 
have  entered  since  the  war. 

We  have  now  fairly  entered  upon  the  experiment  of  two 
races  of  people,  as  different  as  white  and  black,  living  to 
gether  in  the  same  country,  upon  recognized  terms  of  legal 
and  political  equality,  and  with  the  same  inequality,  in  the 


24  DELAY  IN  SETTLING. 

Experiment  of  two  races  of  people. 


personal  and  social  relations,  and  in  all  matters  outside  of  the 
law  as  it  existed  formerly,  while  the  blacks  were  slaves  and 
the  whites  masters.  It  is  well  that  it  is  so,  and  is  likely  so 
to  continue  in  Texas;  not  as  matter  of  prejudice,  but  as  mat 
ter  of  humane  policy.  No  two  such  distinct  races  ever  did, 
or  ever  can  be  reasonably  expected  to  live  together,  on  terms 
of  perfect  equality  in  every  respect,  otherwise  than  upon  the 
miraculous  supposition  that  they  respectively  could  regard 
each  other  as  truly  and  exactly  equal  in  every  respect.  It  is 
likely  to  continue  as  it  is  here,  because  hundreds  of  thous 
ands  of  white  people,  from  the  other  states  and  from  Europe, 
are  pouring  into  Texas,  by  which  the  importance  of  the 
blacks,  as  a  class,  either  for  labor  or  otherwise,  is  diminish 
ing  day  by  day  ;  and  in  a  few  years  they  will  be  relatively 
lost  amidst  the  busy  millions  of  whites  that  will  spread  them 
selves  over  our  broad  domain.  We  have  advanced  far  enough, 
in  the  first  ten  years  since  the  negroes  were  freed,  to  perceive 
a  most  marked  change  in  the  direction  of  our  industrial  pur 
suits,  in  our  habits  of  life,  and  in  the  general  face  of  society. 
The  industry  of  the  whites  has  been  quickened,  and  better 
directed  towards  comfort  and  utility -in  the  country,  as  well 
as  in  the  towns.  Country  residences  and  pursuits  are  less 
desired  than  formerly,  and  are  sought  and  used  more  as  an 
employment,  and  less  as  an  investment.  The  greater  number 
of  heads  of  families  have  added  immensely  to  trade  and  com 
merce,  by  which  towns  and  cities  have  grown  rapidly,  at 
tracting  more  and  more  the  population  and  capital  of  the 
country.  More  rail-roads  and  other  public  works  have  come 
into  existence.  We  are  learning  the  advantages  of  co-opera 
tive  labor,  skill,  and  capital.  Already  we  are  beginning  to 
fasten  upon  the  soil,  in  more  permanent  shape,  the  surplus 
earnings  of  labor,  and  necessarily  to  call  into  requisition  more 
of  the  varied  resources  of  our  country,  which  have  as  yet  but 
only  commenced  to  be  discovered  and  developed.  It  is  only 
by  approximate  comparison  that  we  can  begin  to  appreciate 
the  vast  resources  of  Texas.  She  has  a  sugar  and  sea-island 
cotton  region,  as  large  as  those  of  Louisiana ;  a  cotton  region 
as  large  as  Alabama ;  a  wheat  region  as  large  as  Ohio,  that 
can  put  flour  in  the  market  a  month  sooner ;  a  grazing  region 


DELAY  IN  SETTLING.  25 

Great  and  varied  resources  of  Texas. 

(that  sends  out  fat  beef  and  mutton  in  the  dead  of  winter) 
seven  hundred  miles  long,  and  over  two  hundred  miles  wide. 
Inplian  corn,  field  and  garden  vegetables  are  produced  well 
in  most  parts  of  Texas.  In  nearly  every  part  some  sorts  of 
orchard  fruits  and  grapes  grow  finely,  embracing  oranges, 
figs,  peaches,  pears,  plums,  apples,  and  both  native  and 
foreign  grapes.  It  has  considerable  sections  of  country  well 
adapted  to  rice,  Cuba-tobacco,  and  common  tobacco.  It  has 
an  area  equal  to  one  hundred  miles  square  of  long-leaf  pine, 
and  considerable  quantities  of  short  leaf  pine,  and  also  a 
great  quantity  of  valuable  forest  trees  for  timber,  for  fencing, 
building  and  machinery,  and  furniture. 

She  has  in  different  parts  of  the  State  large  quantities  of 
rock,  for  building,  for  lime  and  other  purposes.  She  abounds 
in  iron  and  other  valuable  minerals.  She  has  probably  the 
largest  gypsum  bed  in  the  world,  and  lignite  and  stone-coal 
in  abundance. 

Her  gulf  coast  and  rivers  abound  in  fine  fish.  In  the  ex 
treme  west,  where  the  dryness  of  the  climate  renders  crop 
ping  precarious,  there  are  bold  mountain  streams  for  irriga- 
gation.  We  have  a  generally  temperate  climate,  subject  to 
considerable  diversity,  and,  though  changeable,  it  is  generally 
healthful,  and  agreeable,  and  in  some  portions  of  the  State 
extremely  so. 

Our  condition  is  rapidly  being  changed  in  another  impor 
tant  respect.  Instead  of  a  remote  country  (the  "Province  of 
Texas"  at  one  time,  and  part  of  the  Trans- Mis  sis  sip  pi  De 
partment  at  another)  it  is  getting  to  be  in  the  direct  passage 
of  the  commerce  of  the  great  north-west  to  the  Gulf,  and  be 
fore  long  may  be  traversed  by  two  great  high-ways  to  the 
Pacific  Coast,  over  which  must  pass  some  of  the  most  pre 
cious  productions  in  the  commerce  of  the  world. 

It  is  said  that  a  country  makes  the  people.  If  so,  it  must  be 
because  its  resources  appeal  to  them  for  development,  and 
shape  and  limit  their  character.  Upon  this  standard  of  pro 
gress,  the  people  of  Texas  have  a  grand  field  of  operations, 
a  Herculean  task  in  the  mastery  of  it,  and  a  great  future  in 
prospect  for  realization. 

The  governments,    under  which    Texas   has  existed,  have 


26  DELAY  IN  SETTLING. 

Development  encouraged  by  donations  of  land. 

done  much  to  encourage  the  increase  of  its  population,  the 
settlement,  and  the  development  of  the  resources  of  the 
country.  By  the  general  colonization  law  of  Mexico  of  1824, 
a  league  of  land  (4428  acres)  was  granted  to  settlers.  The 
Republic  of  Texas  increased  it  to  a  league  and  labor  (4506 
acres).  From  that  time  to  the  present,  donations  of  land  to 
actual  settlers  have  almost  continually  been  made,  in  differ 
ent  quantities,  (1280,  640,  320,  160  acres),  the  last  of  which 
is  still  given  as  pre-emptions  (160  acres).  Since  annexation 
to  the  United  States  the  Legislature  has  appropriated  money 
and  lands  to  clear  out  and  improve  the  navigation  of  the 
rivers,  and  has  chartered  numerous  railroads,  giving  them  a 
liberal  bounty  in  lands  (usually  16  sections  to  the  mile),  and 
has  loaned  to  some  of  them,  of  the  school  fund,  $6,000  to  the 
mile ;  has  chartered  numerous  manufacturing  and  mining 
companies ;  and  has  lately  given  a  bounty  in  lands  to  encour 
age  irrigating  canals.  It  also  passed  a  law  organizing  and 
supporting  a  geological  corps,  for  the  discovery  and  exhibition 
of  the  agricultural,  as  well  as  of  the  mineral  resources  of  the 
state,  which  is  still  in  operation.  It  has  caused  to  be  built, 
near  Bryon  City,  an  agricultural  and  mechanical  college,  which 
has  been  put  in  operation.  A  general  law  has  been  passed 
for  the  institution  and  regulation  of  agricultural  and  mechani 
cal  associations.  We  have  had,  also,  an  Immigration  De 
partment,  with  its  officers,  which  has  lately  been  abolished. 

As  early  as  1839,  the  Congress  of  the  Republic  of  Texas 
donated  fifty  leagues  of  land  to  build  two  universities,  which 
lands  have  been  well  located,  and  are  valuable,  to  which  one 
million  of  acres  have  since  been  added.  At,  and  shortly  after, 
the  same  time,  four  leagues  of  land  were  donated  to  each 
county  for  the  building  of  an  Academy  in  each,  which  lands 
have  generally  been  well  located. 

In  the  donation  of  land  to  railroads  provision  was  made 
for  surveying  and  setting  apart  therewith,  alternate  sections 
for  the  support  of  a  Common  School  System,  which,  if  care 
fully  managed,  will  produce  at  no  distant  day,  a  magnificent 
fund  for  that  purpose. 

With  all  these  advantages,  and  resources,  some  of  which 
have  here  been  merely  glanced  at,  rather  than  explained, 


DELAY  IN  SETTLING.  27 

Development  encouraged  by  donations  of  land. 


Texas,  in  all  that  concerns  the  secure  and  solid  prosperity  of 
its  citizens,  in  their  various  industries,  stands  upon  a  firmer 
foundation  than  ever  before,  and  with  a  government  at  home 
in  harmony  with  the  views  and  interests  of  the  great  mass  of 
its  people,  it  is  now  securely  on  the  high-road  to  a  glowing 
prosperity,  commensurate  with  her  great  extent. 


CHAPTER     II. 
PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OF  TEXAS. 


Its  position  in  the  continent,  its  relations  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  Rocky  and 
Alleghany  ledges  of  mountains,  the  Mississippi  river  and  valley,  and  to  the 
great  plains  of  the  west;  the  influence  of  all  these  upon  the  climate  of  the 
different  parts  of  Texas. 

The  dryness  and  warmth  of  the  west,  and  the  moisture  of  the  east,  explained ;  the 
isothermal  lines  indicated. 

The  droughts  ;  two  rainy  seasons  ;  and  also  the  northers,  with  their  causes  and 
effects. 

The  principal  elements  of  production  ;  moisture,  heat,  pulverization  capacity,  and 
mineral  fertilization  of  the  soil,  appropriately  combined  ;  each  of  the  four 
giving  character  to  the  four  grand  natural  divisions  of  Texas — with  the  pecu 
liar  effects  of  each  there  manifested  in  its  productions. 

Prairies  and  heavy  forests,  with  the  causes  that  produced  them. 

The  value,  as  a  portion  of  the  national  wealth,  of  Texas,  of  its  virgin  soils  and 
subsoils,  and  a  mode  of  approximately  estimating  them. 

The  study  of  the  various  peculiarities  of  .each  section  lays  the  foundation  for  a 
general  knowledge  on  the  subject  of  production,  upon  which  the  prosperity  of 
Texas  greatly  depends. 

The  first  thing  to  be  learned  about  Texas,  in  order  to  un 
derstand  its  climate  and  productions,  is  its  Physical  Geogra 
phy.  This  is  dependent  upon  its  central  locality  between  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans,  its  relation  to  the  ranges  of 
mountains  on  this  continent,  and  the  Mexican  Gulf,  and  to 
the  Mississippi  valley  and  river. 

The  North  American  Continent  exhibits  a  high  continuous 
ledge  of  mountains,  (from  6,000  to  16,000  feet  high,)  near  the 
western  edge,  called  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  with  a  vast  ex 
panse  in  their  course  from  north  to  south,  and  a  less  elevated, 
and  less  expansive  ledge,  (from  2,000  to  6,000  feet  high,) 
called  the  Alleghany  or  Appalachian  chain  of  mountains  near 
the  eastern  edge  from  north-east  to  south-west ;  leaving  be 
tween  them  a  trough-like  depression  constituting  three  great 
basins,  to  wit,  that  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  that  of  the  great 
lakes,  (Superior,  Huron,  Erie,  &c.)  and  that  of  Hudson's  Bay. 

28 


PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OF  TEXAS.  29 

Its  position  in  the  Continent. 

This  is  shown  by  the  elevations  in  that  trough  above  the 
level  of  the  water  of  the  Gulf,  and  Atlantic,  as  follows ;  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Arkansas  on  the  Mississippi  River  it  is  82  feet, 
at  St.  Louis  375  feet,  and  at  the  central  part  of  the  State  of 
Ohio  1,000  feet;  Lake  Erie  565  feet,  Lake  Superior 623  feet; 
the  land  at  the  head  of  the  Mississippi  River  2,000  feet. 
That  River  runs  from  north  to  south,  in  the  bottom  of  the 
southern  portion  of  this  trough,  and  is  the  dividing  line,  from 
which  the  ascent  commences  east  and  west,  in  forming  the 
two  great  ledges  of  mountains  of  the  continent. 

Texas  belongs  to  the  elevation  connected  with  the  western 
ledge  of  mountains,  and  occupies  the  corner  between  the 
Gulf  Basin  and  that  of  the  Mississippi  valley, — rising  from 
both,  by  a  double  ascent,  to  the  "Staked  Plain"  of  the  north 
west,  which  is  4,000  feet  high  or  over,  and  is  itself  but  a  spur 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  the  shape  of  a  high  table  plain, 
coming  dpwn  from  the  region  of  Pike's  peak  (about  13,000 
feet  high,)  in  Colorado.  Up-the-Country  in  Texas  is  gener 
ally  to  the  north-west,  as  indicated  by  most  of  its  rivers, 
which  rise  up  in,  or  in  the  direction  of,  the  "Staked  Plain," 
and  flow  usually  in  a  zigzag  course  towards  the  Mississippi 
River  and  to  the  Gulf,  as  may  be  plainly  seen  in  the  course 
of  the  Sabine,  Trinity,  Brazos  and  Colorado  Rivers.  Thus 
Texas  is  made  to  consist  of  high  rolling,  and  often  rugged, 
plains  descending  from  the  "Staked  Plain,"  south  and  east, 
to  the  "mountains"  and  "cross-timbers,"  whose  base  is  eleva 
ted  about  600  feet  above  the  Gulf;  and  of  the  western  part  of 
the  great  "Plain  of  the  Gulf  slope,"  which  extends  from  the 
Rio  Grande  to  central  Florida,  and  from  Memphis  and  Little 
Rock  to  the  Gulf;  and  which  is  the  great  cotton  and  sugar 
region  of  the  United  States. 

This  trough-like  shape  of  the  continent  tends  to  diverge 
the  course  of  the  north-eastern  surface-current  of  atmosphere, 
in  the  cycle  of  the  temperate  zone,  and  directs  it  northwardly 
in  a  deep,  strong  current,  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  up  the 
deep  valley  of  the  Missisippi  River,  which  direction  is  also 
aided  by  the  valleys  of  the  rivers  west  of  the  Mississippi,  run 
ning  south-east,  up  which  the  current  presses  in  proportion' 
to  their  depth  and  breadth. 


30          PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OF  TEXAS. 


Dryness  of  the  west  and  moisture  of  the  east. 


This  divergence  of  the  atmospheric  current  makes  our  dry, 
hot  winds  of  drought  in  summer  appear  to  come  from  due 
south  off  of  the  Gulf;  whereas,  in  fact,  they  come  from  arid 
regions  west  of  the  Gulf.  Generally,  however,  this  current  of 
atmosphere  carries  the  moisture  of  the  Gulf  (the  direction 
of  the  range  of -Alleghany  Mountains  not  impeding  it,)  all 
over  the  eastern  portion  of  North  America,  (filling  the  great 
northern  lakes,)  and  making  it  one  of  the  best  watered  and 
most  productive  regions  in  the  world,  of  the  same  vast  extent. 
Let  a  line  be  drawn  from  about  the  western  margin  of  the 
Gulf  northward  to  the  Artie  ocean,  and  all  the  country  west 
of  that  line  and  the  eastern  ledges  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  is 
a  dry  country,  often  approaching  the  condition  of  desert, 
mountains  and  plains,  from  which  in  its  whole  extent  of  5,000 
miles  in  length,  and  1,000  miles  in  average  breadth,  the  regu 
lar  moisture  is  cut  off  by  the  snow  mountains  of  Mexico. 
The  regular  north-east  current  of  atmosphere  from  the  Gulf 
misses  it  entirely,  and  the  moisture  from  rain-fall  of  tfiat  vast 
portion  of  the  continent  is  dependent  upon  the  accidental 
and  occasional  drifts  consequent  upon  atmospheric  convul 
sions,  and  upon  the  periodic  vaccillation  from  east  to  west  of 
the  dividing  line  between  the  dry  and  the  wet  regions  of  the 
continent.  (See  Map  No.  I.)  This  dividing  line,  running 
through  Texas  from  south  to  north,  and  being  changeable  by 
moving  to  the  east  and  to  the  west  in  different  years,  or 
period  of  years,  causes  the  most  of  her  territory  to  be  affect 
ed  by  the  peculiarities  of  each  region  in  some  measure  a't 
different  and  occasional  periods.  Hence,  on  both  sides  of 
that  line  for  some  distance  we  have  periods  of  dry  seasons, 
and  others  of  wet  seasons,  just  as  the  dry  line,  running  north 
and  south,  may  vaccillate  to  the  east  or  the  west,  from  its 
accustomed  location  near  the  center  of  the  state. 

Still  it  may  be  said  that  the  eastern  portion  of 
the  state  is  safely  within  the  well  watered  region,  and 
the  western  portion,  on  the  Rio  Grande,  is  in  the  dry 
region.  These  plains,  or  prairies,  being  for  the  most  part 
devoid  of  forests  of  wood,  are  rendered  still  more 
dry  on  that  account,  as  they  are  thereby  more  readily 


PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OF  TEXAS.  31 

Isothermal  lines. — Two  rainy  seasons. 


swept  by  the  strong  currents  of  wind  from  the  south  in  the 
summer,  and  from  the  north-west  in  the  winter.  Their  rapid 
ascent  from  the  plain  below,  and  their  rolling  and  often 
abrupt  outline,  greatly  tend  to  aid  in  keeping  them  dry  by 
the  facility  of  drainage. 

By  these  various  causes  the  lines  of  latitude  that  mark 
similar  degrees  of  temperature  (called  isothermal  lines,)  do 
not,  in  Texas,  correspond  with  the  ordinary  lines  of  latitude ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  after  passing  the  middle  of  the  state,  in 
going  westward,  they  turn  north-west,  by  which  the  average 
summer  heat  of  El  Paso  at  32  deg.  N.  L.,  on  the  Rio  Grande, 
is  as  great  (allowance  being  made  for  altitude,)  as  that  at 
Brownsville,  near  the  mouth  of  that  river,  which  is  only  26 
deg.,N.  L.  (See  Map  No.  I.) 

These  isothermal  lines  bear  northward  in  going  west,  not 
withstanding  the  increasing  altitude,  mainly  perhaps  on  ac 
count  of  the  increasing  dryness  of  the  atmosphere. 

When  we  have  in  summer  a  strong  continuous  current  of 
air  sweeping  over  Texas  from  south-west  to  north-east,  (ap 
parently  coming  from  the  south  usually,)  we  are  almost  cer 
tain  to  have  a  drought.  And  when  in  winter  we  have  the 
slowly  creeping  warmth  of  the  gulf  stream,  wafted  north  on 
the  mainland  from  the  gulf,  so  as  to  rarify  the  substratum  of 
air,  a  norther  breaks  down  suddenly  from  the  high  regions  of 
the  north-west,  and  sweeps  down  over  all  of  our  prairies,  car 
rying  in  its  course  to  the  gulf  the  stagnant  miasma  of  the  in 
terior,  and  leaving  in  its  place  a  dry,  cool  exhilarating  at 
mosphere.  This  excess  of  cold  and  heat,  to  which  portions 
of  the  state  are  periodically  subject,  is  much  relieved  by  the 
dryness  of  the  region  most  liable  to  it.  For  it  is  well  known 
that  the  deleterious  or  disagreeable  effects  of  either  cold  or 
heat,  upon  animal  or  vegetable  life,  are  greatly  diminished, 
and  frequently  entirely  obviated  by  extreme  dryness,  and 
are  proportionately  increased  by  moisture. 

Texas  may  be  said  to  be  a  dry  country  in  the  main,  though 
we  have  what  may  be  called  two  rainy  seasons  in  the  year, 
one  in  the  spring,  and  one  in  the  fall.  Had  we  a  line  of 
high  mountains,  ranging  east  and  west  along  our  northern 
border,  we  might  calculate  on  having  an  abundance  of  rain 


32  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OF  TEXAS. 

No  extravagant  extremes  of  heat  or  cold. 


during  all  seasons  of  the  year,  as  they  have  in  North-Carolina 
and  Virginia.  For  then  the  warm  atmosphere  teeming  up 
from  the  gulf,  freighted  as  it  is  with  watery  vapor  which  may 
be  seen  flying  over  us  every  morning  in  the  dryest  times, 
would  meet  with  the  cold  air  of  the  mountains,  and  cast  down 
refreshing  showers  in  summer.  We  have  no  such  mountains, 
and,  therefore,  the  watery  vapors  pass  on  northward  until 
they  reach  the  mountains  of  Arkansas,  or  Missouri,  or  still 
further,  until  they  reach  a  latitude  about  the  northern  lakes, 
where  the  snow  line  above  comes  near  enough  to  the  surface 
to  occasionally  furnish  the  cold  winds  sufficient  to  produce 
rain,  by  which  process  the  water  of  the  Gulf  is  transferred 
to  the  northern  lakes,  and  the  country  adjacent  to  them 
is  furnished  with  good  seasons.  In  the  absence  of  such 
mountains,  we  must  await  the  nearer  approach  of  that  snow 
line,  driven  down  south  towards  us  in  the  fall  by  winter,  as  it 
slowly  creeps  southward ;  and  then  in  the  spring  the  gushing 
heat  of  the  tropics,  moving  northward,  drives  a  deluge  of 
watery  vapor  on  our  skies  before  the  chill  of  receding  winter 
has  entirely  escaped  to  its  northern  home,  and  thereby  casts 
down  superabundant  rains,  which  fill  the  earth  deeply  with  a 
supply  of  moisture  for  summer,  and  give  a  liberal  surplus  to 
swollen  streams,  that  carry  it  back  in  haste  to  the  Gulf. 

Occasionally,  also,  (but  seldom  when  we  need  it,)  a  three 
days'  wind  from  the  east  transports  to  us  a  chilling  supply 
of  water  from  the  Atlantic  ocean. 

Thus  we  have  variety  without  any  extravagant  extremes 
in  most  of  the  territory  of  the  state, — the  heat  of  summer 
rarely  exceeding  80  to  90  degrees,  and  the  cold  of  winter 
never  preventing  out-door  pleasure  or  labor  for  more  than 
one  to  three  days  at  a  time ;  with  a  bright  sunny  sky  over  us 
nine-tenths  of  the  year,  and  yet  seasons  sufficient  to  make 
labor  highly  remunerative  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  when 
applied  with  proper  discrimination,  as  to  what  each  section  is 
best  adapted.  This  uniform  moderate  warmth,  dryness  and 
light  of  our  sunny  clime,  not  only  tends  to  promote  health 
and  animation,  but  also  gives  to  life  a  cheerful  charm  which 
old  Texans  can  not  fully  appreciate,  unless  they  should  visit, 
particularly  in  the  winter,  some  of  those  drizzly,  dark,  cold 
regions  of  the  north-eastern  portion  of  the  continent. 


PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OF  TEXAS.  33 

Philosophy  of  vegetable  productions. 

To  properly  appreciate  the  adaptability  of  the  different 
sections  of  Texas  to  their  appropriate  productions,  it  is  neces 
sary  to  understand  something  of  the  philosophy  of  vegetable 
productions,  under  the  various  conditions  to  which  it  is  sub 
ject,  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  It  is  evident  that  the 
natural  productions  are  very  variant,  though  each  may  be 
excellent  of  its  kind,  dependent  upon  permanent  causes.  In. 
artificial  production  of  crops,  those  causes  and  their  effects 
should  be  understood  so  as  to  point  the  way  to  the  safe  in 
vestment  of  capital  and  labor.  The  causes  that  facilitate  the 
growth  of  trees  may  prevent  the  growth  and  preservation  of 
the  grasses,  and  vice  versa.  That  which  produces  wood-growth 
may  not  proportionally  promote  fruit-bearing  on  the  wood. 
That  which  retards  or  kills  growth  in  one  place,  fosters  it  in 
another.  All  these,  and  many  more  such  phenomena,  pre 
vail  in  Texas,  dependent  upon  permanent  natural  causes. 
Without  going  into  any  minute  investigation  at  present,  suf 
fice  it  to  say,  that  with  all  sorts  of  vegetation,  and  in  all  coun 
tries,  its  existence  and  growth  depend  upon  the  combination, 
and  the  respective  portions  in  the  combination  at  any  one 
locality,  of  four  leading  elements  of  production  which  are 
heat,  moisture,  pulverization  capacity  of  the  soil  and  mineral 
fertility  of  the  soil  and  substratum  of  earth. 

These,  in  appropriate  combination  without  excess  or  de 
ficiency  in  any  one,  are  the  best  possible  conditions  upon 
which  excellent  and  durable  production  is  attained.  It 
often  happens,  however,  that  this  is  overlooked  by  the  very 
superior  excellence  of  one  of  these  four  qualities  predominat 
ing  in  a  locality,  to  such  an  extent,  as  to  greatly  relieve 
against  a  striking  deficiency  or  excess  in  one  or  more  of  the 
other  three.  Very  great  deficiency  or  excess  in  either  one, 
however,  will  usually  prevent  or  destroy  vegetation.  A 
mountain  of  perpetual  snow  cannot  produce,  because  of  a 
deficiency  of  heat ;  whereas  the  deserts  of  Africa  share  the 
same  fate  from  an  excess  of  it.  The  same  tropical  heat  in 
South  America,  where  a  refreshing  shower  of  rain  descends 
every  day  of  summer,  generates  an  exuberant  growth  of 
forests. 
3-* 


34  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OF  TEXAS. 


Philosophy  of  vegetable  productions. 


Vegetation  cannot  gain  a  fixed  foot-hold  in  the  wind-drift 
ing  sands  of  the  desert  plain  owing  to  an  excess  of  pulveriza 
tion  capacity,  nor  upon  the  hard  rock,  whatever  may  be  its 
composition,  from  a  deficiency  of  it.  Excess  of  water  pre 
vents  the  chemical  action  in  the  earth  which  is  necessary  to 
furnish  food  for  plants  and  trees,  and  a  deficiency  of  it  pro 
duces  the  same  effect. 

A  good  mineral  fertilizer  may  be  so  in  excess  (as  a  bed  of 
lime  or  gypsum,  or  ashes  or  sea-shell,)  as  to  destroy  or  pre 
vent  vegetation.  Indeed  sameness  in  the  ingredients  of  the 
soil  and  subsoil,  of  any  sort,  is  inimical  to  the  permanent 
growth  of  trees,  as  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  our  deep,  rich 
limy  prairies  of  middle  and  northern  Texas,  as  well  as  in  our 
sand  flats  of  eastern  Texas.  The  greater  the  mixture  of  dif 
ferent  ingredients  in  the  earth,  the  more  favorable  is  its  con 
dition  for  permanent  production.  Now,  it  so  happens  that 
each  one  of  these  elements  of  production  is  peculiarly  pre 
dominant  in  four  different  sections  of  the  state,  and  largely 
influences  the  production  therein.  Heat  and  dryness  in  the 
far  west ;  moisture  in  the  south  and  east ;  pulverization  ca 
pacity  of  the  soil  in  a  belt  of  country,  reaching  from  near  the 
north-east  corner  of  the  state  nearly  to  Corpus  Christi,  em 
bracing  most  of  the  clay,  sand-stone  and  iron-ore  region  of 
eastern,  middle  and  southern  Texas,  the  central  portion  of 
which  may  be  designated  by  Gilmer,  Tyler,  Palestine,  and 
thence  south-west;  mineral  fertility  of  the  soil  and  in  the 
sub-soil  abounds  pre-eminently  in  all  the  black,  limy  prairies 
from  Sherman  and  Clarksville  in  the  north,  to  and  beyond 
Austin  in  the  west,  and  in  all  the  rolling  plains  and  valleys 
west  of  that  line  as  far  out  as  ordinary  crops  can  be  made. 
(See  Map  No.  2.) 

The  heat  and  dryness  of  the  far  west  favor  the  growth  and 
preservation  of  the  grasses,  and  make  it  a  vast  grazing  region 
that  can  well  dispense  with  barns,  or  even  with  cutting  and 
stacking,  to  preserve  its  hay.  The  moisture  of  the  south  and 
east  are  favorable  to  sugar,  rice  and  cotton. 

The  pulverization  capacity  of  the  interior  timbered  country, 
previously  indicated,  is  peculiarly  favorable  to  an  average 
production  of  most  crops  common  to  the  south,  including 


PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OF  TEXAS.  35 

Praries  and  heavy  forests  ; — the  causes  that  produce  them. 

corn,  cotton,  garden  vegetables,  orchards  and  vineyards. 
The  mineral  fertility  of  the  black,  limy  prairie  is  peculiarly 
favorable  to  all  of  the  cereals,  as  well  as  to  cotton.  Though 
the  sections  of  country,  subject  each  to  these  respective  pecu 
liarities,  may  not  be  marked  out  by  any  exact  lines  of  bound 
ary,  and  may  often  run  into  each  other,  and  sometimes  one 
partakes  of  the  peculiar  quality  of  the  other ;  still  the  marked 
characteristic  of  each  section,  as  described,  stands  out  in  bold 
relief,  so  as  not  to  be  mistaken,  when  attention  is  called  to  it, 
as  will  be  seen  more  prominently  hereafter.  In  estimating 
the  probable  effects  of  any  of  these  elements  of  production 
the  altitude  of  the  locality  must  be  taken  into  account,  in  as 
much  as  it  may  affect  both  the  dryness  and  warmth.  Thus 
cotton  will  grow  to  great  perfection  in  the  low  regions  of 
Mississippi  and  Arkansas  on  or  near  the  35th  deg.  N.  L.,  near 
Memphis ;  wheras,  near  the  same  line  of  latitude  in  Ala 
bama,  Tennessee  and  Georgia  in  the  high  mountains 
it  will  scarcely  mature  at  all.  Indeed  there  is  no  certainty  in  its 
growth  in  an  altitude  over  six  hundred  feet  above  the  gulf, 
in  any  part  of  the  south. 

A  few  reflections  may  be  here  added  profitably,  as  it  is 
thought.  And  first,  if  we  have  found  the  necessary  condition 
of  things,  in  the  production  of  the  growth  of  trees  and  plants 
why  may  we  not  by  a  process  of  reasoning  backwards  from 
the  fixed  premises,  account  as  readily  for  the  absence  of 
trees  on  prairies,  deserts,  sea-marshes,  steppes  and  other 
places  that  are  found  without  them,  which  has  seemed  to 
geologists,  and  to  others,  so  difficult  a  problem  ?  The  rule, 
so  far  as  it  can  be  made  into  a  set  form  of  words,  is,  that  in 
every  prairie,  desert  or  other  place  devoid  of  trees,  or  forests 
of  trees,  there  is  a  deficiency  or  an  excess  of  some  one  or 
more  (usually  several,)  of  these  four  elements  of  production, 
either  permanently,  or  periodically,  existing  there  to  an  ex 
tent  sufficient  to  prevent  their  generation  and  growth. 

It  only  requires  a  patient  and  searching  investigation,  upon 
the  principles  here  suggested,  to  account  for  their  existence 
everywhere  they  are  found  on  the  earth,  whether  of  small  or 
large  area.  Secondly,  such  is  the  variety  of  our  productions, 
natural  and  artificial,  and  such  is  the  variety  of  the  causes 


36          PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OF  TEXAS. 

The  wealth  of  Texas  buried  in  her  rich  virgin  soil. 

either  favorable  or  inimical  to  them  in  the  different  sections, 
that  the  study  of  them  becomes  the  study  of  the  industrial 
prosperity  of  the  state  in  its  great  future.  Thirdly,  it  may 
be  well  to  contemplate,  as  what  has  gone  before  has  prepared 
us  to  do,  the  national  wealth  of  Texas,  buried  in  her  rich  vir 
gin  soil,  and  floating  in  her  salubrious  atmosphere, — a  gra 
tuitous  bounty  of  the  Creator  to  its  inhabitants.  We  would 
comprehend  this  much  better,  if  each  man  owning  an  acre  of 
land  could  dig  down  a  few  feet,  and  find  his  twenty,  fifty,  one 
hundred,  or  two  hundred  dollars  of  coined  gold,  there  de 
posited  for  him.  Still  it  is  certainly  there  in  the  extra-fertility 
of  the  soil  and  subsoil,  over  all  of  the  tillable  portions  of  Texas, 
and  over  most  of  the  grazing  portions  too,  if  he  will  only  have 
the  digging  done  in  the  right  way. 

Under  every  fertile  soil,  or  soil  that  has  been  fertile,  (with 
some  occasional  exceptions,  not  necessary  now  to  be  noticed,) 
there  is  a  substratum  of  earth,  or  rock  of  some  sort,  that  is  a 
good  mineral  fertilizer,  that  receives  the  water  through  the 
surface  from  the  winter  and  spring  rains,  and  in  response  to 
the  heat  of  the  summer  and  fall,  loads  the  ascending  vapor 
with  a  mineral  fertility  that  enriches  the  surface.  This  pro 
cess  is  continuous  wherever  the  surface-water  returns  in  vapor 
from  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  It  is  a  fertility  that  does  not 
have  to  be  purchased,  as  does  guano,  nor  carted  from  the 
manure  heap.  It  is  by  this  process  that  worn  out  lands  re 
vive  upon  being  turned  out  for  a  few  years,  and  it  is  on  ac 
count  of  the  activity  and  certainty  of  this  process,  that  some 
of  our  black,  limy  lands,  under-laid  by  a  white  cretaceous 
limestone,  cannot,  it  seems,  be  worn  out.  Texas  abounds  in 
rich  mineral  substrata  of  various  sorts,  such  as  lime  and  marls, 
both  clay  and  shell  marls,  that  ensure  a  durable  fertility  to 
its  soils.  That  this  may  be  made  intelligible  to  any  one,  who 
may  doubt  it,  let  it  be  reduced  to  figures.  What  is  it  worth 
to  make,  by  the  use  of  fertilizers,  a  barren  soil  of  sandy-loam 
or  clay  produce,  per  acre,  1 5  bushels  of  wheat,  40  bushels 
of  corn,  or  1,000  pounds  of  cotton,  on  an  average,  from  year 
to  year  ?  It  will  take  ten  dollars  annually.  There  are  nu 
merous  farms  in  northern  and  middle  Texas,  on  the  black, 
limy  land,  that  have  produced  a  greater  average  than  that, 


PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OF  TEXAS.  37 

The  wealth  of  Texas  buried  in  her  rich  virgin  soil. 

for  the  last  thirty  years,  without  any  manure ;  and  the  straw 
or  other  stubble  of  the  crops  has  been  burned  off  every  year 
to  get  clear  of  it ;  still  those  lands  produce  with  undiminished 
fertility.  The  amount  loaned  at  safe  interest,  (say  at  ten  per 
cent.)  necessary  to  raise  the  ten  dollars  per  acre,  to  be  ex 
pended  in  manuring  the  barren  land,  is  one  hundred  dollars  ; 
and  that  is  the  amount  that  the  Texan  who  owns  an  acre  of 
black,  stiff,  limy  soil,  resting  on  a  white  cretaceous  limestone, 
has  imbedded  in  his  land  as  a  permanent  agricultural  invest 
ment.  This  will  give  some  faint  idea  of  the  millions  upon 
millions  of  permanent  wealth  that  is  now  imbedded  in  the  vast 
domain  of  Texas, — which  is  bounteous  Nature's  free  gift  to 
man, — provokingly  awaiting  the  touch  of  labor  to  bring  it 
forth,  not  as  the  transient  wealth  of  the  gold  mine,  but  lasting 
from  year  to  year,  and  from  generation  to  generation,  while 
the  rains  fall,  and  the  sun  shines,  to  put  the  earth  in  perpetual 
activity  to  produce  it. 

The  minerals,  the  timbers,  the  native  grasses,  and  various 
other  objects  in  Texas,  could  be  shown  in  the  same  way  to 
possess  immense  values,  as  gifts  of  Nature,  not  worked  for  by 
man,  but  to  be  realized  by,  and  in  addition  to  his  labor,  when 
it  is  properly  applied  to  them. 


CHAPTER  III. 


GREAT  VARIETY  OF   PRODUCTIONS. 


Great  variety  of  natural  and  artificial  productions  exhibited  in  passing  through 
Texas  on  a  line  from  east  to  west,  and  from  south  to  north,  and  its  extent  in 
latitude  and  longitude. 

Its  division  by  regular  belts  of  country,  with  the  characteristics  of  each  ;  the 
Level  Gulf  prairie  belt ;  the  Long-leaf  Pine  belt ;  the  Magnolia  belt ;  the  Red- 
Land  belt ;  the  Black  Jack  belt ;  the  Short-leaf  Pine  district ;  the  Black,  Limy 
Prairie  belt ;  the  Mountains  and  Cross-timbers  ;  the  High  Grazing  Plains  and 
Vallfrys;  the  Staked  Plain.  "Llano  Estacado" 

The  effects  upon  bottom  lands  of  rivers  that  flow  from  and  through  these  belts. 

Of  all  the  resources  with  which  Texas  abounds,  those 
which  will  first  be  developed,  as  the  mainspring  of  its  future 
improvements,  are  agricultural  and  pastoral,  either  in  combi 
nation,  or  separately.  Its  qualities  in  reference  to  them 
should  therefore  demand  our  immediate  attention.  Its  manu 
facturing  and  mining  interests  must  necessarily  be  postponed 
for  these. 

A  general  view  having  been  presented  of  its  adaptation  to 
production,  it  will  now  be  appropriate  to  give  a  more  particu 
lar  description  of  the  particular  portions  of  the  country,  with 
the  peculiarities  of  each,  as  the  best  means  of  conveying  a 
complete  idea  of  the  whole.  In  its  locality  on  the  continent 
it  is  central  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans  ;  lying 
on  the  north-west  corner  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  extending 
as  far  south  as  26  deg.  N.  L.,  as  far  north  as  36  deg.,  and 
embraced  between  the  lines  of  longitude  94  and  107.  The 
main  body  of  the  country,  however,  is  embraced  within  an 
area  of  about  700  by  500  miles,  bounded  on  the  east  by 
Louisiana,  on  the  north  by  Arkansas,  the  Indian  Territory, 
and  New  Mexico ;  on  the  west  by  Mexico ;  and  on  the  south 
by  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  most  remarkable  thing  pertain 
ing  to  it  is  the  almost  endless  variety, — a  variety  in  everything 
pertaining  to  a  country  within  the  temperate  zone.  Each 
region  of  seventy  miles  square  differs  from  every  other  in 

38 


GREAT  VARIETY  OF  PRODUCTIONS. 


39 


Division  by  regular  belts  of  country. 


some  essential  particular,  except,  perhaps,  the  great  plains  of 
the  west.  To  illustrate  this,  let  a  line  be  drawn  from  the 
Sabine  River  on  the  east,  to  the  Rio  Grande  on  the  west, 
on  the  32  degree  of  north  latitude,  you  will  find,  in  passing 
from  east  to  west  on  this  line,  a  climate,  first  moist,  then 
medium,  and  then  dry;  at  first,  tall  forests,  then  scrubby 
growth,  then  prairie  intermixed  with  timber,  then  bare 
and  arid  plains ;  first,  a  region  well  suited  to  the  growth  of 
cotton  and  corn,  then  of  orchard  fruits  and  grapes  as 
well  as  corn  and  cotton,  then  of  wheat  as  well  as  corn  and 
cotton,  then  of  the  native  grasses  for  grazing,  with  rich 
valleys  for  cultivation,  and  then  whatever  can  be  produced  by 
irrigation. 

A  like  variety,  on  that  line,  will  be  found  in  the  face  of  the 
country,  in  its  scenery,  in  its  waters,  its  soils  and  sub-soils, 
and  in  the  rocks,  all  in  regular  succession. 

So,  too,  if  we  take  a  point  on  the  Gulf  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Colorado  River  and  go  north,  you  leave  the  sugar  region, 
and  passing  through  the  cotton  region,  reach  the  wheat  and 
grain  region  of  northern  Texas.  If,  however,  you  go  west 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Colorado  River,  you  soon  pass  out  of 
the  sugar  and  cotton  regions,  and  go  immediately  into  the 
dry  grazing  region  of  western  Texas,  one  of  the  best,  if  not 
the  best,  wool  raising  districts  in  the  world,  where  the  sheep 
graze  the  year  round  and  are  seldom  housed.  Thus  it  will 
be  seen  that  similarity  in  latitude  and  longitude  constitutes 
no  reliable  criterion  of  the  climate  or  productions,  as  is  the 
case  in  most  countries.  The  explanation  of  this  is  greatly 
dependent  upon  its  intrinsic  and  relative  physical  geography, 
and  the  character  of  its  different  soils  and  seasons. 

Upon  taking  a  broad  survey  of  the  whole  country,  we  find 
it  arranged  into  strips,  or  belts  of  country,  having  leading 
points  of  similarity,  generally  well  defined,  though  sometimes 
inter-mixing,  or  running  into  each  other. 

A  line  from  a  point  thirty  or  forty  miles  west  of  Corpus 
Christi,  at  the  north-west  corner  of  the  Gulf,  drawn  north 
eastwardly  to  a  point  on  Red  River,  thirty  or  forty  miles 
above  Fulton,  will  sufficiently  indicate  the  line  of  division 
between  the  forests  of  the  east  and  south,  and  of  the  prairies 


40          GREAT  VARIETY  OF  PRODUCTIONS. 

Division  by  regular  belts  of  country. 

of  the  west  and  north ;  though  it  will  be  found  that  there  will 
be  tracts  of  prairrie-country  east  of  that  line,  and  timbered 
tracts  west  of  it.  (See  map  3.)  Corpus  Christi  is  the  point 
on  the  coast  where  the  Gulf  has  not  receded  from  the  un 
dulating  prairie.  From  that  point  west  and  north-east  there 
is  a  belt  of  low,  level  prairie,  which  may  be  designated  as 

THE  LEVEL  GULF  PRAIRIE  BELT. 

(See  Map  No.  3.) 

North-east  of  Corpus  Christi  this  level  prairie  widens  as 
it  proceeds,  reaching  at  the  Sabine  River  a  width  of  forty 
or  fifty  miles.  In  its  whole  extent  it  constitutes  one  of  the 
largest  dead-level  plains  in  North  America.  It  has  every  ap 
pearance  of  having  been  formed  by  the  receding  of  the 
waters  of  the  Gulf,  and  is,  at  the  upper-edge,  not  more,  per 
haps,  than  thirty  feet  in  altitude  above  the  Gulf.  It  has  a 
variety  of  soil,  such  as  sandy,  dark  mixed  sandy,  and  black, 
stiff,  limy  soils.  During  the  winter  and  spring  it  is  wet. 
In  most  places  water  stands  upon  it,  which  rots  or  destroys 
the  nutrition  of  the  grass,  and  injures  the  land  in  cultivation. 
When  properly  drained,  however,  as  it  in  time  will  be,  in  con 
nection  with  the  river  bottoms  that  extend  through  it  to  the 
Gulf  from  above,  it  will  be  the  great  sugar,  sea-island  cotton, 
and  rice  region  of  Texas. 

THE  LONG  LEAF  PINE  BELT. 

(See  Map  No.  3.) 

Immediately  above  and  north  of  this  level  Gulf  prairie,  in 
south-eastern  Texas,  lies  a  body  of  long-leaf  yellow  pine,  over 
one  hundred  miles  in  width,  on  the  Sabine  River  from  about 
Sabine  Town  (31  1-2  degrees  N.  L.,)  down  that  stream,  and 
thence  west,  diminishing  in  width  for  about  one  hundred 
miles.  This  lies  just  below  the  old  San  Antonio  road  (or  the 
"King's  Highway"  as  it  was  formerly  called,)  as  it  passes 
through  eastern  Texas,  where  it  is  in  the  shape  of  high,  roll 
ing  ridges,  or  undulating  plains,  and  becomes  more  and  more 
level  as  you  go  southward,  until  it  reaches  the  level  gulf 
prairie,  which  it  joins.  The  soil  of  this  tract  consists  gener 
ally  of  very  coarse  angular  sand,  sometimes  intermixed  with 
considerable  vegetable  mould,  with  a  poor  sub-soil  of  yellow 


GREAT  VARIETY  OF  PRODUCTIONS.          41 

Division  by  regular  belts  of  country. 

joint  clay,  mixed  with  sand,  and  usually  very  deep.  There  is 
other  timber  than  pine  upon,  and  adjoining,  the  numerous 
streams  of  this  region.  The  timber  grows  rapidly,  with  long, 
slender,  pliant  branches,  and  is  intermixed  with  evergreens  and 
vines, — especially  the  Muscadine  vine, — indicating  the  preva 
lence  of  a  great  deal  of  moisture.  The  numerous  and  never- 
failing  streams  furnish  water-power  to  saw  up  the  pine,  cy 
press  and  other  trees,  into  lumber. 

MAGNOLIA  BELT.     (See  Map  3.) 

There  is,  about  the  middle  of  this  pine  region,  a  very  fertile 
belt,  which  may  be  denominated  as  the  Magnolia  belt,  about 
twenty  miles  wide,  running  westwardly  from  the  Sabine  River 
(through  Newton,  Jasper,  Tyler,  Polk,  and  into  Walker  and 
Montgomery  countries,)  about  31  deg.  N.  L.  It  is  not  an 
unbroken  strip,  but  is  run  into  by  the  pine  in  different  places, 
so  as  to  make  it  irregular  in  form.  It  is  overgrown  with  a 
magnificent  forest  of  mammoth  white-oaks,  beach,  sugar-tree, 
elm,  water-oak  and  magnolia,  with  innumerable  evergreens 
and  vines,  presenting,  even  upon  the  ridges,  the  appearance 
of  a  rich  bottom,  adjoining  a  river. 

This  forest  grows  on  a  deep,  coarse,  sandy  loam,  frequently 
with  no  firm  sub-soil  for  many  feet  in  depth,  so  that,  when 
very  wet,  a  cane  can  be  pushed  down  by  the  hand  ten  feet,  in 
many  localities.  It  was  originally  a  vast  cane-brake,  but  is 
now  overgrown  with  dense  thickets,  called  hammocks.  This 
soil  does  not  last  well  on  account  of  the  fertility,  consisting 
mainly  of  surface  loam  from  vegetable  decomposition,  and 
from  the  rapid  evaporation  caused  by  the  coarse  sand,  and 
moist  climate.  There  are  in  this  belt,  however,  spots  of  black, 
stiff,  limy  soil,  just  such  as  is  found  in  the  richest  prairies, 
which  is  often  covered  sparsely  with  scrubby  pine  trees. 
These  spots  diminish  in  size,  as  you  go  from  west  to  east. 
There  is  also  another  sort  of  mixed  soil,  partaking  partly  of 
the  character  of  both  of  those  last  described,  called  "dirt 
lands,"  which,  as  well  as  the  black,  limy  soil  there,  is  very 
durable  and  productive.  This  is  the  region  in  Texas  pecu 
liarly  adapted  to  the  production  of  Cuba-Tobacco,  especially 
on  the  ridges  overgrown  with  water-oak  and  magnolia.  It  is 
also  suitable  for  sugar,  rice  and  cotton.  These  two  belts  of 


42          GREAT  VARIETY  OF  PRODUCTIONS. 

Division  by  regular  belts  of  country. 

level  gulf  prairie,  and  long-leaf  pine,  intermixed  with  the 
magnolia,  extend  eastwardly  through  Louisiana,  getting  wider 
and  more  scattered  towards  the  north  as  they  go  east,  until 
they  reach  the  bottom  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

THE  RED-LAND  BELT.     (See  Map  3.) 

Above  the  long-leaf  pine  belt  is  that  of  the  Red-lands, 
reaching  from  the  Trinity  River  to  the  Sabine,  about  and 
above  the  line  of  3 1  1-2  degrees  of  N.  L.  (in  Houston,  An 
derson,  Cherokee,  Nacogdoches,  San  Augustine  and  Sabine 
counties.)  Though  scattered  in  its  western  end,  near  the 
Trinity  it  becomes  concentrated,  while  diminishing  in  width, 
nearly  to  a  point,  before  it  reaches  the  Sabine  River.  In  Na 
cogdoches  and  San  Augustine  counties,  it  is  usually  not  more 
than  from  six  to  ten  miles  wide.  The  soil  is  dark  red,  very 
firm  and  when  wet  is  "waxy"  or  sticky,"  like  the  black,  limy 
lands,  and  is  several  feet  deep.  It  is  underlaid  by  a  red  clay 
under  which  is  often  found  a  bed  of  shell  lime  rock  (being 
sea-shells  with  a  clay  and  sand  cement)  of  a  bluish  grey  color. 
This  is  a  fine  building  rock.  The  same  material,  not  yet  ma 
tured  into  rock,  is  found  also  in  the  shape  of  bluish  shell 
marl,  which,  when  dug  out  and  exposed  to  the  air,  becomes 
an  excellent  fertilizer,  as  would  the  rock  if  burned.  This  red- 
land  is  very  durable  and  fertile,  though,  from  its  mixture  of 
lime  and  oxide  of  iron,  it  is  inclined  to  be  very  drougthy  un 
less  it  is  broken  up  very  deeply,  which  must  be  done  in  early 
spring  or  winter,  if  done  at  all.  It  is  well  adapted  to  corn, 
wheat  and  other  grains,  and  also  to  cotton,  while  fresh,  or 
when  deeply  tilled.  The  face  of  the  country  is  bolder  and 
more  broken  than  that  south  of  it,  and  it  is  overgrown  with  a 
rather  low,  well  branched  forest  of  hickory,  black-jack,  post- 
oak,  red-oak,  elm  and  other  trees,  whose  foliage  is  of  a  very 
rich,  dark  green  color. 

THE  BLACK-JACK  BELT.     (See  Map  3.) 

This  red-land  is  the  lower  edge  and,  indeed,  is  a  part  of  a 
belt  of  country  that  lies  in  a  direction  north-east  and  south 
west  from  the  north-eastern  corner  of  Texas,  towards  Corpus 
Christi  on  the  Gulf,  diminishing  as  you  go  south-west;  which, 
from  the  uniform  prevalence  of  that  timber,  may  be  denomi 
nated  as  "the  black-jack  belt."  Other  trees  such  as  hickory, 


GREAT  VARIETY  OF  PRODUCTIONS.  43 

Division  by  regular  belts  of  country. 


red-oak  and  post-oak  abound,  all  of  which  are  low  and  heavy- 
topped.  It  has  in  it  spots  of  red  and  of  chocolate  land,  and 
sometimes,  though  rarely,  of  dark  prairie  land  and  also  of 
high  table-lands.  This  belt  generally  has  a  deep, 
dry,  easily  pulverized  soil  of  fine  sandy  loam,  usually 
grey,  or  yellow,  or  an  ashy  color,  underlaid  by  a  compact  red, 
or  yellow  clay  sub-soil.  Abounding  in  iron-ore  hills,  the 
soils  adjacent  thereto  are  reddened  and  enriched  thereby. 
This  belt  is  characterized  throughout  by  a  mellow,  loose,  dry 
soil  of  very  fine  texture,  most  of  which  is  soluble  in  water, 
with  sufficient  sand  to  prevent  it  from  running  together,  and 
from  breaking  up  into  clods  when  plowed.  And  though  pos 
sessing  a  general  similarity,  there  is  considerable  variety  both 
in  appearance  and  in  fertility.  It  is  all  high  and  rolling,  or  un 
dulating  in  its  surface,  and  abounds  in  springs  of  free-stone 
water.  It  is  distinctly  and  well  defined  in  eastern  and  middle 
Texas,  diminishing  in  width  as  you  go  south-west,  being  about 
eighty  miles  wide  on  a  line  through  Rusk,  Smith  and  Van- 
zandt  counties.  This  is  peculiarly  the  region  of  mixed  crops, 
adapted  to  the  medium  production  of  almost  everything  that 
can  be  produced  in  the  temperate  zone,  as  corn,  cotton,  po 
tatoes,  wheat,  apples,  peaches,  pears,  plums,  figs  and  garden 
vegetables.  Being  also  much  dryer  and  higher  than  the  re 
gion  below  it,  it  is  well  adapted  to  the  culture  of  grapes.  In 
deed  it  is  a  natural  vineyard,  having  native  grapes  bearing 
well  and  growing  wild  all  over  it,  some  of  which  are  as  large 
and  palatable  as  the  cultivated  grapes.  The  species  most 
common  is  the  large  post-oak,  or  sand-hill  grape  of  summer. 
This  belt  is  extended  through  north-western  Louisiana,  and 
into  the  interior  of  Arkansas,  expanding  and  becoming  less 
distinct  as  it  goes  in  that  direction,  being  more  broken  into 
by  other  adjoining  formations. 

SHORT  LEAF  PINE  REGION.  (See  Map  3.) 
In  the  state  of  Louisiana,  lying  between  the  black-jack  and 
long-leaf  pine  belts,  is  a  well  marked,  large  district  of  short-leaf 
pine  country,  intermixed  with  red-oak,  as  the  next  leading 
growth,  though  abounding  in  a  great  variety  of  other  trees, 
including  the  dogwood.  The  muscadine  grows  all  over  it, 
indicating  its  fitness  for  the  culture  of  the  scuppernong  grape. 


44          GREAT  VARIETY  OF  PRODUCTIONS. 

Division  by  regular  belts  of  country. 

This  section,  in  reference  to  moisture  and  fineness  in  the  sand 
of  the  soil,  is  about  a  medium  between  the  long- leaf  pine  and 
the  black-jack  belts ;  is  underlaid  by  a  red  and  yellow  clay 
sub-soil,  the  surface  being  almost  invariably  dark  gray  and 
compact,  rather  than  loose  and  mellow ;  and  is  well  adapted 
to  cotton,  though  not  so  well  suited  for  grains,  fruits  and 
grapes  as  the  black-jack  region,  on  account  of  the  greater 
moisture,  coarser  material  of  the  soil,  and  flatness  of  the  coun 
try.  This  character  of  country  covers  a  broad  district  from 
Pine-Bluff  on  the  Arkansas  and  Monroe  on  the  Washita 
Rivers,  extending  in  a  diminishing  body  into  the  eastern  part 
of  Texas  (in  Shelby,  Panola,  Harrison  and  Cass  counties,) 
and  extends  itself  south  and  west  in  broken,  detached  parcels 
and  strips,  considerably  into  the  black-jack  belt,  constituting 
the  pineries  of  north-eastern,  eastern  and  middle  Texas. 
Wherever  found,  the  soil  is  closer,  coarser  and  more  moist, 
than  that  of  the  body  of  the  country  in  their  vicinity. 
They  do  not  reach  further  than  to  the  middle,  and  never  go 
to  the  western  edge  of  the  black-jack  belt  by  a  distance  of 
thirty  or  forty  miles,  by  which  that  belt  preserves  an  unin 
terrupted  body  in  its  whole  course  in  Texas  just  below  the 
prairie  line. 

THE  BLACK,  LIMY  BELT.  (See  Map  3.) 
The  next  belt  is  that  of  the  black,  limy  prairie,  which,  leav 
ing  the  Rio  Grande,  just  below  the  mountains,  below  the 
mouth  of  Devil's  River,  and  above  the  level  Gulf  prairie  be 
low  Lerado,  sweeps  around  below  the  mountains  (at  San  An 
tonio  and  Austin)  and  turning  northward,  in  more  distinct 
form,  is  bounded  by  the  line  of  mountains  and  cross-timbers  on 
the  west  and  by  the  black-jack  belt  on  the  east,  and  passing 
over  Red  River,  scatters  itself  partially  into  the  south-western 
part  of  Arkansas ;  (as  is  evidenced  by  the  black,  limy  lands  of 
Hempstead  and  other  adjoining  counties  of  that  state)  but 
principally  passes  over  the  Indian  Territory,  west  of  the  flint- 
rock  hills  and  mountains,  which  cover  most  of  the  western 
portion  of  Arkansas  reaching  down  to  Little  Rock  on  the 
Arkansas  River.  This  belt,  not  well  defined  west  of  San  An 
tonio,  but  much  better  north-east  of  Austin,  is  from  thirty  to 
eighty  miles  wide,  getting  broader  and  putting  out  off-shoots 


GREAT  VARIETY  OF  PRODUCTIONS.          45 

Division  by  regular  belts  of  country. 

as  it  goes  north-eastwardly.  In  approaching  it  from  the 
south-east  and  east,  in  its  course,  you  do  not  come  suddenly 
upon  a  broad,  extensive  prairie,  but  upon  small  prairies  first 
and  then  larger,  for  fifteen  or  twenty  miles.  This  mixed  tract 
or  strip,  between  the  timbered  country  and  the  prairies,  is 
generally  very  level,  partaking  in  its  soils  of  a  mixture  of  the 
two,  and  affords  a  great  amount  of  valuable  timber,  especial 
ly  post-oak,  which,  next  to  pine,  is  perhaps  our  most  valuable 
timber,  and  which  indeed  may  be  said  to  be  the  fencing  tim 
ber  of  Texas  prairies,  although  in  some  parts  of  the  west 
fences  have  been  made  extensively  of  cedar  rails  and  polls. 
The  black-jack  timber  also  thrusts  itself  liberally  on  this  dis 
puted  territory.  The  soil  is  a  medium  between  the  grey, 
loose,  sandy  loam  on  one  side  of  it,  and  the  black,  stiff  or 
sandy  lime  land  on  the  other,  and  is  regarded  as  thin  land. 
Being  flat,  it  holds  too  much  water  in  the  spring  season,  and 
bakes  hard  when  the  heat  of  summer  dries  it.  Much  of  it 
is  like  the  post-oak  flats,  or  swags  of  the  black-jack  region 
and  must  be  improved  by  drainage. 

In  this  neutral  territory  the  prairies  have  names  given  to 
them  by  the  early  settlers.  Around  their  edges  in  middle  and 
southern  Texas,  the  trees  are  often  loaded  with  the  mustang 
grape.  Leaving  this  strip  you  will  rise  upon  a  high,  rolling 
prairie, — grand  to  look  upon, — with  winding  streaks  of  tim 
ber  in  the  valleys  of  the  streams,  whose  low  tops  do  not  im 
pede  the  extensive  view  before  you,  or  with  a  little  mott  of  tim 
ber  here  and  there  upon  a  ridge,  seen  at  a  distance,  like  an  island 
in  the  sea,  you  pass  generally  over  a  black,  sandy  soil,  and 
finally  enter  upon  the  deep,  black,  stiff,  limy  lands,  which  are 
about  as  rich  as  lands  are  ever  found  in  a  state  of  nature. 
The  soil  is  from  two  to  ten  feet  deep,  and,  indeed,  the  sub 
soil  is  similar  to  the  surface  in  its  ingredients  of  lime,  gypsum, 
clay,  and  sometimes  sand  and  other  materials,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  the  vegetable  matter,  incorporated  with  the  surface 
soil  by  the  decay  of  the  grasses.  It  rises  gradually,  as  you 
advance  upon  it,  to  its  western  and  north-western  verge,  when 
you  find  yourself  upon  an  elevated  ridge,  where  the  white, 
soft  cretaceous  lime-rock  crops  out,  which  underlies  the  un 
dulating,  rising  plain  that  you  have  passed  over,  and  from 


46          GREAT  VARIETY  OF  PRODUCTIONS. 


Division  by  regular  belts  of  country. 


which  point  of  elevation  you  overlook  usually  a  deep,  broad 
valley  of  three  or  four  miles  (sometimes  less,)  in  width,  and  see 
a  little  blue  streak  above  the  horizon,  which  is  the  lower  cross- 
timbers  if  you  should  be  in  northern  Texas,  or  the  mountains 
if  you  should  be  in  middle  and  south-western  Texas,  which 
are  more  distinctly  seen  and  not  so  far  off.  The  bottom  lands 
of  the  rivers  and  other  streams  that  pass  through  this  belt, 
from  the  country  above  it,  are  usually  covered  with  a  dense 
body  of  timber  of  various  sorts,  as  post-oak,  spanish-oak, 
over-cup-oak,  elm,  ash,  hack-berry,  chittum-wood,  pecan  and 
others.  Upon  the  ridges  and  flats  between  the  streams  may 
frequently  be  seen  clusters  of  scattered  musquite  trees,  which 
resemble  an  old  neglected  orchard  of  peach  and  apple  trees. 
The  musquite  is  a  very  hard  wood  and  makes  an  exceedingly 
hot  fire.  It  is  peculiarly  the  growth  of  the  whole  prairie 
country  and  is  increasing  very  fast  in  the  west. 

The  surface  of  the  earth  being  stiff,  limy  material,  holds 
the  water  that  falls  on  it,  and  the  almost  constant  winds 
that  sweep  over  it  facilitate  its  evaporation,  and  for  that 
reason,  also,  there  are  but  few  springs,  because  the 
water  cannot  sink  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth  to  be  there 
stored  away,  for  a  source  of  supply  to  fountains,  as  is  pecu 
liarly  the  case  in  the  more  loose,  sandy  loam  in  the  black-jack 
belt,  where  springs  are  very  numerous.  This  black,  limy  belt 
is  pre-eminently  adapted  to  the  rich  native  grasses  that  grow 
on  all  parts  of  it  most  luxuriantly.  As  it  sweeps  around  (the 
segment  of  a  large  circle,)  from  the  Rio  Grande  of  the  far 
west,  to  Red  River  of  northern  Texas,  a  distance  of  at  least 
six  hundred  miles  or  more,  it  is  necessarily  subject  to  great 
variations  in  its  climate  and  productions.  Two  hundred  miles 
of  the  north-eastern  end  of  it,  together  with  the  black  and 
dark-red  prairies,  lying  between  the  lower  and  upper  cross- 
timbers,  (about  twenty-five  miles  wide,)  constitute  t'he  great 
wheat  region  of  Texas.  It  is  probable,  also,  that  experience 
and  fair  trials  will  soon  point  out  the  way  to  make  two  hun 
dred  miles  more  of  it  a  fine  wheat  and  small  grain  country. 
The  extreme  western  portion  of  it  is  likely  to  remain  a  grazing 
region  on  the  up-lands,  on  account  of  the  dryness  of  the  sea- 


GREAT  VARIETY  OF  PRODUCTIONS.  47 

Division  by  regular  belts  of  country. 

sons,  until  irrigation  shall  have  been  resorted  to,  as  a  means 
of  insuring  abundant  crops  on  its  rich  soil.  Its  fertility  gen 
erally  seems  to  be  inexhaustible  ;  and  when  the  seasons  suit, 
it  brings  large  crops  of  corn,  cotton,  tobacco,  turnips,  sorgo 
and  small  grains.  The  mustang  grape  grows  wild  in  great  abun 
dance,  in  most  parts  of  it,  usually  near  the  streams,  or  in  the 
hollows.  It  is  a  large,  rough,  brown  grape,  good  for  wine 
and  brandy ;  and  bears  by  the  wagon  load,  rather  than  by 
the  bushel. 

This  black,  limy  belt  is  not  regarded  so  good  for  garden 
vegetables  and  orchards,  except  in  those  spots  in  which  there 
is  not  a  stiff,  limy  soil.  The  famous  Bois  d'arc  timber,  (pro 
nounced  Bodark,)  is  found  in  a  belt  of  country  about  twenty 
miles  wide,  running  from  the  mouth  of  the  east  fork  of  the 
Trinity  north  to  the  Red  River.  It  is  perhaps  the  best  wagon 
timber  in  the  world,  from  its  not  shrinking,  nor  rotting  as 
other  wood  does ;  it  is  used  extensively  in  hedges  and  is 
thought  to  be  valuable  as  a  dye. 

THE  MOUNTAINS  AND  CROSS-TIMBERS.     (See  Map  3.) 

At  the  upper  edge  of  this  black,  limy  belt,  which  is  gener 
ally  about  six  hundred  feet  high,  is  found  the  mountains 
which  connect  with  the  lower  cross-timbers  of  northern  Texas, 
and  constitute  the  terminus  and  base  of  a  vast,  undulating 
and  often  rugged,  plain,  ascending  rapidly  towards  a  common 
center  to  the  "Staked  Plain,"  situated  partly  in  north-western 
Texas,  and  partly  in  New  Mexico,  about  four  thousand  feet 
high  (which  is  above  the  average  height  of  the  Alleghany 
ledge  of  mountains).  It  is,  indeed,  but  a  high,  broad  table 
land,  connected  with  the  Rocky  Mountains,  with  its  southern 
verge  in  the  shape  of  rocky  cliffs  resting  on  the  plain  below, 
which  are  called  mountains.  The  cross-timbers  (as  they  are 
called,)  are  two  parallel  belts  of  post-oaks  and  other  trees, 
each  from  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  wide,  and  about  twenty-five 
miles  apart,  growing  on  a  sandy  soil,  running  nearly  south 
from  the  Red  River  to  the  Brazos  River,  where  they  are  joined 
to,  and  apparently  form  part  of,  the  chain  of  mountains  (as 
they  are  called)  in  middle  and  south-western  Texas.  The 
soil  in  the  cross-timbers  is  generally  a  coarse,  yellow,  sandy 
loam,  with  an  occasional  prairie  of  small  proportions  and  high 


48          GREAT  VARIETY  OF  PRODUCTIONS. 

Division  by  regular  belts  of  country. 

peaks,  indicating  a  marked  change  in  the  face  of  the  country, 

from  that  of  the  black,  limy  plain  below. 

THE  HIGH  DRY  GRAZING  PLAINS  AND  THE  STAKED   PLAIN. 

The  staked  plain  (so  called  from  the  fact  that  the  Mexicans 
staked  it  with  posts  as  guides  in  passing  over  it,)  is  high  table 
land  extending  for  about  ninety  miles,  in  going  over  it  from 
east  to  west,  on  the  route  from  northern  Texas  to  El  Paso. 
The  plain,  descending  east  and  south  from  this  to  the  moun 
tains  and  cross-timbers,  is  the  great  grazing  region  of  Texas — 
of  vast  extent. 

All  maps  of  North  America  made  forty  to  fifty  years  ago, 
presented  a  large  tract  of  country  included  in  the  term 
"  Great  American  Sandy  Desert,"  Latter  explorations  prove 
most  of  it  to  be  better  than  the  average  farming  districts  of  the 
north-eastern  states.  So  with  the  "  Staked  Plains."  For 
many  years  they  have  been  supposed  to  be  of  little  or  no 
value ;  but  all  of  the  engineering  parties  sent  over  it  the  past 
few  years,  report  that  much  of  it  is  very  fine  grazing  land. 

Possessed  of  a  rich,  limy  soil  in  its  vaileys  and  high  plains, 
it  requires  very  little  mosture  in  the  winter  and  spring  to 
bring  forth  a  crop  of  nutritious  short  grass,  which,  from  the 
dryness  of  the  climate,  matures  and  is  turned  into  good  hay 
on  the  ground,  thereby  furnishing  food  for  stock  during  all 
seasons  of  the  year,  because  it  does  not  there  rot  in  the  winter, 
as  do  the  grasses  near  the  coast  by  excess  of  moisture.  The 
lower  edge  of  this  grazing  plain  has,  running  through  it,  bold 
streams  with  rich  valleys  that  produce  finely;  and  many  of 
them  will  doubtless  be  irrigated  where  it  is  necessary,  as  it 
generally  will  be  in  most  parts  of  that  region.  Part  of  Texas 
lying  north  of  the  Red  River,  sometimes  called  the  "Pan 
Handle,"  is  a  part  of  this  plain  just  described,  and  partakes 
of  the  same  character. 

THE  PECOS  AND  Rio  GRANDE. 

Those  two  rivers  run  southward  from  the  very  high  moun 
tains  in  New  Mexico  and  Colorado,  and,  in  their  whole  course 
in  Texas,  pass  through  a  dry  country.  The  farms,  cultivated 
below  El  Paso  on  the  Rio  Grande,  are  famous  for  their  fruits, 
and  especially  for  their  grapes,  which  for  table  use,  and  for 
wine,  are  regarded  as  inferior  to  none  in  the  world.  Most  of 


GREAT  VARIETY  OF  PRODUCTIONS.          49 

Division  by  regular  belts  of  country. 

the  country  through  which  these  rivers  flow,  (except  the 
lower  Rio  Grande),  constitutes  a  part  of  the  high  descending 
plain  that  has  been  described.  Most  of  the  rivers  that  flow 
out  of,  or  through  the  regions  of  the  "Staked  Plain,"  (as  do 
the  Pecos,  branches  of  the  Colorado,  of  the  Red  River,  and 
the  Arkansas  River),  have  their  waters  made  bitter  by  the 
extensive  gypsum  bed  of  that  region,  which  is  said  to  be  not 
less  than  three  hundred  miles  square ;  and  this  is  also  one 
cause  of  the  remarkable  fertility  of  the  bottom-lands  of  those 
streams  that  are  occasionally  overflowed.  The  whole  of  this 
elevated  grazing  region  is  underlaid  with  a  substratum,  mostly 
of  limestone  rock  of  various  kinds,  genenally  much  harder 
than  that  of  the  region  below. 

To  understand  the  qualities  and  natural  resources  of  Texas 
in  all  of  its  parts,  this  classification  into  belts  should  be  studied 
by  aid  of  the  maps,  so  as  to  fix  it  indelibly  upon  the  mind. 
These  belts  that  have  been  described,  though  they  may 
slightly  intermix,  or  break  into  each  other,  at  their  con 
tiguous  margins,  and  therefore  not  always  form  a  regular  line ; 
yet,  if  a  broad  view  be  taken,  they  will  be  found  to  have  a 
substantial  connection  in  all  of  their  parts,  and  to  have  well 
defined  characteristics. 

Nor  is  this  a  useless,  or  merely  curious,  investigation,  for, 
considered  as  a  matter  of  practical  utility,  the  understanding 
of  the  peculiarities  of  each  section,  and  the  nature  and  causes 
of  production  there,  and  the  reason  of  the  difference  between 
that  and  other  sections,  is  one  of  the  very  best  means  of  com 
prehending  the  true  science  of  production  generally.  It  fur 
nishes  material  for  comparison  under  different  conditions, 
and  facilitates  the  tracing  of  the  effects  observed,  back  to 
their  true  causes,  and  spreads  out  a  wide  field  for  study  and 
improvement. 

Though  there  is  a  similarity  in  the  vegetable  growth  of 
each  one  of  these  belts  of  country,  there  is,  nevertheless,  a 
marked  difference,  produced  by  the  different  character  of  the 
climate,  in  reference  to  the  heat  and  moisture,  prevailing  in 
each  portion  of  the  country,  as  exhibited  in  the  previous  chap 
ter  on  the  "Physical  Geography  of  Texas."  Hence,  we  find 
a  very  different  production  of  vegetable  growth  on  the  black, 
4* 


5o          GREAT  VARIETY  OF  PRODUCTIONS. 

Division  by  regular  belts  of  country.     ; 

limy  soil  of  northern  Texas,  from  that  on  similar  soil  in  the 
extreme  south-western  part.  The  two  chapters  must  be 
studied  with  reference  to  each  other,  in  order  to  fully  under 
stand  the  condition  of  things  which,  in  any  particular  locality, 
affect  vegetable  production. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


COMPARISON  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  BELTS 


. 


A  comparison  of  the  different  belts  of  country,  with  reference  to  the  productions 
in  each,  and  with  the  reasons  therefor. 

The  tendency  to  increase  the  fruit-bearing  in  trees  and  crops,  as  the  wood-pro 
ducing  capacity  diminishes,  and  to  what  extent,  as  exhibited  in  the  different 
belts  of  country  that  are  found  in  Texas. 

Bottom  lands  in  Texas.  How  they  are  formed,  and  the  different  kinds  in  the  dif 
ferent  rivers  and  other  streams  in  Texas.  Their  qualities,  and  how  they  may, 
or  may  not,  be  redeemed  from  overflows.  When  overflows  are  necessary,  and 
when  not,  to  preserve  their  fertility. 

Benefits  of  generalization  and  classification  in  the  description  of  a  country. 

Having,  in  the  previous  chapters,  pointed  out  the  leading 
characteristics  in  the  climate  and  soils,  in  the  different  sections 
of  the  state,  and  designated  the  various  belts  which  traverse 
its  territory,  with  some  of  their  prominent  attributes,  it  maybe 
instructive  to  consider  their  qualities  in  comparison  with  each 
other,  as  well  as  some  of  the  reasons  of  the  difference,  for  the 
purpose  of  impressing  a  more  definite  idea  of  each.  After 
which  the  bottom  lands  upon  the  rivers  and  creeks  may  well 
demand  our  attention,  as  but  little  reference  has  heretofore 
been  made  to  them.  (See  Maps  I,  2  &  3.) 

It  may  be  remarked  that  heretofore,  as  will  be  the  case 
hereafter,  reference  has  been  made  to  the  growth  of  trees, 
not  that  the  growing  of  trees  is  an  object  of  attention  or  in 
terest  for  the  sake  of  the  trees  themselves  at  present,  but  be 
cause  the  manner  and  size  of  the  growth  of  trees  during  a 
series  of  years,  or  generations,  together  with  the  kind  of  trees 
grown  in  any  section  of  country,  is  one  of  the  very  best  indi 
cations  of  what  cultivated  crops  the  country  is  capable  of  pro 
ducing  ;  which  fact  is  well  known  to  thoughtful  agriculturists. 
It  is  a  well  known  fact,  for  instance,  that  cotton  will  grow  in 
the  shape  of  the  trees  of  the  forest  where  it  is  planted,  and 
will  bear  its  fruit  very  much  in  proportion  to  the  fruit-bearing 

51 


52     COMPARISON  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  BELTS. 

Capacity  of  each  indicated  in  the  native  growth. 


trees  there.  In  all  those  parts  of  eastern  Texas  that  have 
been  found  to  produce  superior  and  abundant  orchard-fruits, 
their  capacity  in  that  respect  is  plainly  indicated  in  the  native 
growth  of  the  wild  plum,  haw-trees  of  different  sorts,  hickory, 
walnut  and  many  other  fruit-bearing  trees  on  the  up-lands. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  vines.  Smith  county,  in  the 
center  of  the  black-jack  belt,  may  be  truly  said  to  be  a  natural 
vineyard ;  grape  vines,  mostly  of  the  large  post-oak  or  sand 
hill  species,  grow  all  over  it ;  which  plainly  indicates  what 
experiment  has  demonstrated,  its  capacity  to  produce  fine 
vineyards  of  cultivated  grapes.  The  muscadine,  so  common 
in  the  moist  regions  of  the  extreme  eastern  part  of  the  state, 
point  to  its  fitness  for  the  scuppernong,  which  is  itself  a  mus 
cadine,  originating  in  the  low,  moist  country  upon  the  coast  of 
North  Carolina. 

In  the  moist  regions  of  the  east  the  trees  are  large  with  long, 
slender  twigs,  and  few  thorns.  In  the  dry  region  of  the  far 
west,  in  the  same  latitude,  thorns  or  stubbed  limbs  cover  all 
the  trees.  That  plainly  indicates  that  the  fine  grasses  of  the 
west  would  be  smothered  out  by  the  dense  and  rapid  growth 
of  trees  in  the  east ;  and  that  sugar  and  cotton  would  not 
grow  in  the  far  west  (except  on  farms  irrigated).  For  this 
purpose,  then,  addressing  myself  first  to  the  comparison  of  the 
various  sections  or  belts  heretofore  pointed  out,  it  may  be 
asked  what  makes  a  tree,  a  grape  vine,  a  plant  of  corn  or 
cotton,  stock  of  wheat,  or  a  blade  of  grass  grow  ? 

You  see  an  acorn  planted  in  the  soil.  It  has  the  oak-tree 
in  embryo  in  it.  The  roots  shoot  down  and  the  stem  upwards. 
The  stem  forms  into  a  body  with  branches,  covered  with  foli 
age.  There  it  stands  after  fifty  years  growth,  in  the  same 
place,  having  increased  by  accumulated  matter,  to  many  tons 
weight.  The  acorn  did  not  weigh  one-half  an  ounce.  Near 
it  stands  an  ash,  a  sugar-maple,  a  pine,  a  sweet-gum,  a  wal 
nut,  and  a  cherry  tree,  that  have  all  grown  and  increased  in 
the  same  way,  in  the  same  character  of  soil,  and  under  the 
same  circumstances.  (There  is  an  acre  of  ground  in  Smith 
county,  where  there  are  three  times  as  many  different  sorts 
of  trees,  as  those  here  mentioned,  now  standing.) 

The  earth  does  not  seem  to  have  been  diminished  in  bulk 


COMPARISON  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  BELTS.       53 


Philosophy  of  the  growth  of  trees. 


in  the  formation  of  this  great  increase  of  vegetable  matter, 
The  qualities  of  these  trees,  that  have  thus  grown  together, 
are  each  different  from  the  other,  in  almost  every  respect. 
Yet  they  have  not  had  the  power  of  locomotion,  to  travel  off 
and  select  their  respectively  peculiar  qualities.  They  have 
gotten  them  where  they  stand.  They  exist  as  the  inhabitants 
of  two  natural  regions, — their  roots  in  the  earth,  and  their 
body,  branches,  and  foliage  in  the  air.  The  ingredients  of 
the  earth,  and  of  the  air  then,  by  their  co-operation,  have  given 
them  the  increase  of  weight,  and  furnished  them  so  great  a 
variety  of  materials  in  the  same  locality.  They  will  not  grow 
without  the  air,  or  without  the  earth.  The  truth  is,  that  both 
the  earth  and  the  air,  not  only  furnish  materials  from  their 
own  intrinsic  ingredients,  but  also  act  as  agents  in  collecting, 
preparing  and  transmitting  other  materials  to  act  in  aid  of 
themselves,  in  producing  these  trees.  This  proposition  may 
be  illustrated  by  supposing  a  similar  cluster  of  these  trees  to 
be  growing  in  the  different  belts  of  country  as  described  in  the 
previous  chapter.  On  the  Gulf  prairie  the  sweet-gum  and 
the  pine  might  flourish  to  some  extent,  but  most  of  the  others, 
unless  under  very  favorable  circumstances,  would  hardly  sur 
vive  the  excessive  change  from  the  moisture  of  winter  and 
spring,  to  the  dryness  of  summer  and  fall.  On  the  magnolia 
belt,  in  the  long-leaf  pine  region,  they  would  all  flourish  to 
gether  in  magnificence,  growing  tall  and  large.  On  the  black 
jack  belt  they  would  grow  well,  but  with  diminished  size  and 
height,  and  with  heavier  tops  and  more  branches.  On  the 
black,  limy  belt  the  sweet-gum  and  pine  would  disappear  for 
the  want  of  moisture ;  also  the  ash  and  sugar  tree,  except  in 
the  bottoms.  On  the  plains,  above  the  cross- timbers  and 
mountains,  the  oak,  if  of  a  species  as  hardy  as  the  live-oak, 
might  grow  as  a  scrubby  tree  in  favorable  localities ;  all  the 
others  would,  as  a  general  thing,  not  survive  the  heat  and 
dryness.  On  the  staked  plain  none  of  them  now  do  grow  at 
all.  In  all  of  these  localities,  soils  with  sufficient  materials  of 
fertility  exist  to  produce  them,  and  the  air  itself  (in  its 
mere  mixture  of  oxygen  and  nitrogen),  is  exactly  the  same  in 
each  locality.  In  the  production  of  fruits  as  the  apple  and 
the  grape,  or  of  fruit-bearing  plants,  as  cotton,  corn,  and  wheat, 


54       COMPARISON  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  BELTJ. 

Philosophy  of  the  growth  of  fruit. 

equal  variations  would  appear,  though  not  in  parallel  order; 
for  in  the  pine  region  the  apple  trees,  though  large,  would 
not  bear  much  good  fruit,  and  so  of  the  grape ;  corn  would 
be  light,  and  cotton  long-jointed,  and  wheat  would  generally 
fail  from  rust,  or  other  causes,  notwithstanding  it  is  the  best 
region  in  Texas  to  produce  mere  growth  of  the  wood,  or 
stalks.  In  the  black-jack  region  the  fruits  would  be  better, 
though  the  wood  growth  would  not  be  so  large.  In  the  black, 
limy  belt  the  fruits  would  rather  improve  in  amount,  in  propor 
tion  to  the  diminution  in  the  growth  of  wood,  and  the  wheat 
largely  in  quantity  and  weight  of  grain.  In  the  dry  plains 
above,  the  difficulty  seems  rather  to  be  in  producing  the  wood 
to  bear  the  fruits,  than  in  any  want  of  adaptation  to  fruit- 
bearing  in  them,  when  sufficiently  produced  and  sustained. 
For  on  the  irrigated  lands  of  the  Rio  Grande  near  El  Paso, 
(32  deg.  N.  L.,)  these  fruits  are  not  only  abundant,  but  of  the 
very  finest  quality,  especially  the  grapes.  Indeed,  the  ten 
dency  to  fruit-bearing  seems  to  increase  in  proportion  as  the 
wood-producing  tendency  diminishes,  until  it  reaches  a  point 
where  there  is  not  enough  wood  produced  to  bear  the  fruit. 
In  the  same  sections  these  differences,  both  in  wood-pro 
ducing  and  in  fruit-bearing,  are  dependent  upon  the  differ 
ence  in  the  soil,  in  its  composition  alone,  other  things  being 
equal.  In  the  long-leaf  pine  region,  the  spots  of  black,  limy 
soil  produce  more  grain  than  the  hammock  lands  of  coarse, 
sandy  loam  adjoining  them.  The  sandy  or  mixed  soils  of  the 
cross-timbers  produce  a  variety  of  scrubby  trees,  while  the 
adjoining  black,  limy  soil  of  the  prairie  is  bare  of  trees  gener 
ally.  The  iron-ore  hills  of  the  black-jack  belt  produce  a  vig 
orous  growth  of  hickory,  red-oak  and  black-jack,  whereas,  the 
adjoining  "sand  flat"  ridges  may  produce  only  the  blue-jack, 
or  very  dwarfish  post-oak,  and  the  next  ridge  of  coarser,  stiffer, 
sandy  soil  may  be  covered  mostly  with  short-leaf  pine.  A 
difference  in  production  is  also  attributable  to  the  compact 
ness  or  looseness  of  a  soil  alone,  irrespective  of  its  ingredients. 
A  rock  may  be  composed  of  lime,  clay,  sand  and  other  in 
gredients,  in  such  combination  as  to  readily  make  a  fine  soil, 
if  crushed  and  pulverized,  and  nothing  but  a  scanty  moss  will 
cover  its  surface  ;  whereas,  its  loose  debris  at  its  base  may 


COMPARISON  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  BELTS.     55 

Philosophy  of  vegetation. 


bring  a  rich  growth  of  wood.  So  the  fertile,  stiff,  red  or  black 
lands  will  produce  but  poorly,  unless  broken  up  before  the 
increasing  heat  of  summer  has  rendered  them  too  hard  to  be 
pulverized*  deeply.  That  is  not  so  necessary  on  the  sandy 
loam  ofcthe  black-jack  belt,  because  it  is  usually  found  in  a 
state  of  natural  pulverization.  On  the  other  extreme,  how 
ever,  vegetation  cannot  spring  forth  upon  a  loose,  drift 
ing  sandy  plain,  like  the  desert  of  Sahara,  any  more 
than  it  can  upon  the  loose,  wind-beaten  sand  near  the  beach 
of  the  gulf.  It  is  too  loose,  as  the  rock  is  too  hard,  to  pro 
duce  vegetation.  In  the  case  of  the  rock  the  particles  are 
fixed  to  their  places,  and  do  not  permit  a  circulation  of  air, 
water  or  heat  sufficiently  to  generate  a  chemical  process, 
which  is  necessary  to  furnish  food  to  the  roots  of  plants. 
Whereas,  in  the  excessively  loose  sand,  too  much  heat  may 
be  admitted,  or  the  sands  may  not  be  sufficiently  fixed  to  en 
able  the  roots  to  hold  their  position. 

The  warmth  of  spring  brings  forth  vegetation  in  rapid 
haste,  to  clothe  earth  in  radiant  verdure.  Declining  summer, 
in  sultry  heat,  makes  it  pause  and  rest  for  a  new  start  in 
early  fall.  The  chill  winds  of  autumn  disrobe  it  of  its  faded 
beauty,  and  frosty  winter  holds  it  stationary  in  its  iron  grasp. 
These  changes  are  all  the  result  of  the  degrees  of  heat  in  one 
locality, — first  stimulating  by  gradual  approaches,  next  de 
pressing  by  excess,  again  stimulating  by  moderation,  and 
lastly  locking  up  by  its  absence.  Heat  itself,  like  moisture 
and  soil,  is  subject  to  numerous  variations  in  its  effects,  de 
pendent  upon  its  combination  with  other  things.  The  heat 
that  scorches  the  brown  plains  of  the  far-west,  invigorates 
the  deep-green  forests  of  south-eastern  Texas ;  and  the  cold, 
that  rots  the  grass  on  the  wet  gulf  prairie  in  winter,  leaves  un 
harmed  the  nutrition  of  the  grass,  on  the  dry  prairies  of  the 
north-west,  though  there  more  intense.  Corn  will  not  grow 
on  a  deep  bed  of  pure  lime  or  ashes,  though  excellent  ma 
nure  when  scattered,  because  chemical  action  requires  more 
than  one  substance  in  manufacturing  food  for  plants.  Sub 
soils,  as  well  as  soils,  produce  great  differences  in  the  same 
locality,  for  the  reason  that  their  mineral  ingredients  are 
brought  to  the  surface  by  the  evaporation  that  is  usually  tak- 


56     COMPARISON  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  BELTS. 


Bottom  lands  of  Texas. 


ing  place.  Hence,  a  good  clay  or  lime  substratum  seldom 
fails  to  make  rich  soils,  and  to  aid  in  keeping  them  so.  The 
effect  of  electric  action  is  readily  perceived  in  the  freshness  of 
plants  after  a  thunder  shower  in  summer.  The  asparagus 
springs  out  of  its  bed  in  the  night,  an  inch  or  two,  succulent 
and  colorless,  the  light  of  the  sun  during  the  day  turns  it 
green,  and  gives  it  toughnecs  and  solidity.  Hence,  our  cloud 
less  prairies  produce  the  horn-like  musquite  wood  that  will 
hardly  decay  with  time,  and,  when  dry,  burns  almost  without 
smoke.  They  produce  also  the  Bois  D'Arc  and  the  live-oak, 
both  of  which  are  extremly  solid  and  durable  timbers. 

BOTTOM  LANDS  OF  TEXAS. 

Throughout  the  Mississippi  valley,  and  particularly  west  of 
the  river,  there  is  a  great  disparity  between  the  amount  of 
water  which  flows  down  the  streams  in  different  seasons  of 
the  year,  and  in  different  years.  In  summer  and  fall  the 
amount  is  usually  small,  in  comparison  with  that  of  win 
ter  and  spring.  Hence,  our  streams,  both  large  and  small, 
are  provided  with  two  beds,  or  aqueducts,  for  carrying  off  the 
water,  one  embraced  within  the  other.  One  of  them  is  a 
small  channel,  only  sufficiently  broad  and  deep  to  contain  and 
carry  off  the  water  that  flows,  ordinarily,  down  the  stream. 
The  other  is  a  level  space,  from  twenty  to  two  hundred  times 
broader  than  the  channel,  and  through  which  the  generally 
crooked  channel  meanders.  This  broad  space,  called  the 
bottom,  serves  the  place  of  a  bed  of  the  river  or  creek  during 
the  overflows  of  spring  and  winter.  It  is,  however,  not  needed 
for  that  purpose  but  a  few  days  or  weeks,  perhaps  at  several 
times,  during  the  winter  and  spring,  and  seldom  ever  in  the 
summer  and  fall.  The  Mississippi  and  some  of  its  tributaries 
usually  overflow  their  bottoms  in  the  early  part  of  summer. 
This  is  produced  by  the  melting  of  the  snow  at  their  heads. 
None  of  our  rivers  in  Texas,  except  the  Rio  Grande,  and  per 
haps  the  Pecos,  are  subject  to  so  late  an  overflow  from  this 
permanent  cause,  as  their  heads  do  not  reach  a  region  where 
the  snow  lies  on  the  ground  longer  than  a  few  days,  or  weeks, 
at  one  time.  These  bottoms  also  act  as  a  reservoir  to  hold 
much  of  the  water  of  the  overflow,  which  sinks  into  and  fills 
the  earth,  also,  the  lakes,  ponds,  and  low  places  in  the  bottom, 


COMPARISON  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  BELTS.      57 


Bottom  lands  of  Texas. 


remaining  there  after  the  great  body  of  the  overflow  has  gone 
down;  and  gradually  finds  its  way  into  the  channel,  as 
the  water  in  the  channel  falls,  thereby  aiding  the  navigation 
of  the  stream  long  after  the  overflow  of  the  river.  This  bot 
tom  being  covered  with  water  only  a  short  time,  a  dense,  heavy 
forest  of  trees  usually  flourishes  upon  it,  which  protects  the 
surface  from  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  protracts  the  duration  ot 
a  humid  atmosphere.  But  for  this  forest,  this  quality  of  the 
bottom,  as  being  the  occasional  bed  of  the  stream,  would  be 
manifest  to  all. 

Thus,  when  there  is  an  overflow  of  the  stream  in  the  win 
ter,  or  spring,  there  is  a  guaranty  of  moisture  to  sustain  sum 
mer  crops  in  the  bottom,  from  a  local  source,  in  addition  to 
the  moisture  supplied  from  rains  during  the  year,  and  from 
the  general  moisture  drifting  in  the  air. 

The  substance  of  these  bottoms  is  formed  by  the   deposits 
of  decayed  leaves  and  drift-wood,  combined  with  the  earthy 
materials  of  the  muddy  current  that  covers  them,  when  the 
streams  are  swollen  by  overflows.     They  contain   no   regular 
strata  of  earth  near  the  surface.     The  difference  that  is  ob 
servable  in  digging  downwards,  and  the  difference  that  is  to  be 
found  in  the  surface  soil  in  different  localities  on   the  bottom 
of  the  same  stream,  are  attributable  to  the  different  materials 
that  come  down,  and  are  deposited   in,   the   successive  over 
flows.     Thus   it  is    that   the    surface    soil,   and   substrata  of 
earth  in  the  region  of  country  towards  and  above  the   heads 
of  a  stream,  give  character  to  its  bottom  in  its  whole   course. 
And  where  several  branches  of  a  river  derive  their  source  from 
regions  of  different  sorts  of  earth, — that  is,,  one  abounding  in 
sand,  one  in  clay,  another  in  lime,   or  the  like, — the   bottom 
on  the  river  below  the  confluence  of  these  tributaries  will  ex 
hibit  deposits  from  each,  either  in  combination,  or  separately. 
In  this  way  masses  of  fertilizing  materials  are  thrown  together 
and  constitute  the  deep  and  varied  soils  of  our  alluvial  bottoms. 
To  appreciate  fully  the   amount   of  fertilizing  material,  min 
eral  as  well  as  vegetable,  it  is  necessary  to   consider  that  all 
of  our  bottoms,  periodically,  if  not  annually,  are   overflowed ; 
that  all  of  the  waters  of  the  overflow,  (apart  from  the  coarser 
particles,  which  make  them   turbid)  hold  in  solution  a  large 


58      COMPARISON  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  BELTS. 


Bottom  lands  of  Texas. 


amount  of  fertilizing  matter,  as  lime,  gypsum,  marls  and  the 
like,  which  sinks  with  the  water  to  a  considerable  depth  in  the 
bottom  land,  and,  when  the  water  is  at  rest,  is  deposited  and 
incorporated  with  the  other  mass  of  made-land,  thereby,  with 
each  successive  overflow,  adding  to,  and  disseminating  into 
the  mass  of  alluvion,  new,  enriching  materials  that  descend 
in  solution  with  the  water  from  the  fertile  tributaries  of  the 
stream.  (Some  idea  of  this  may  be  obtained  from  observing 
the  whitish  deposit  upon  the  sides  and  bottom  of  a  glass 
tumbler  in  which  the  clear  Colorado  River-water  has  been 
standing  for  a  single  night.) 

It  is  in  this  way  that  the  red  marl  plains,  scattered  above 
the  lower  "cross-timbers,"  are  annually  pouring  their  enriched 
red  floods  upon  the  bottoms  of  Red  River,  and  of  the 
Brazos.  In  this  way  the  vast  gypsum  field,  with  an  area  equal 
to  three  or  four  hundred  miles  square,  lying  upon  the  head 
waters  of  the  Pecos,  Colorado,  Brazos  and  Red  River,  sends 
down  those  streams  its  bitter  waters,  freighted  with  a  fertiliz 
ing  material,  that  makes  their  bottoms  teem  with  an  exuber 
ant  fertility,  equal  to  that  of  the  Nile.  In  this  way,  also,  the 
broad  lime  belt,  stretching  clear  across  the  state  from  the  Rio 
Grande  to  Red  River,  spreads  its  richness  upon  the  bot 
toms  of  all  of  our  rivers  that  rise  in,  or  pass  through,  it.  These 
occasional  overflows  are  necessary  to  sustain  thj  fertility  of 
the  bottom  lands,  when  they  are  cultivated.  The  smaller  and 
the  more  shallow  the  streams  are,  the  greater  is  the  necessity 
for  the  overflow. 

In  a  large,  deep  river,  such  as  the  Mississippi,  or  the  lower 
part  of  the  Red  River,  which  has  been  levied,  and  thereby  a 
portion  of  its  bottom  redeemed  from  overflow,  the  great 
weight  of  the  water  in  the  channel,  and  of  the  back  water 
that  lies  or  runs,  in  the  rear  of  the  redeemed  space,  causes  the 
river-water  to  percolate  the  whole  interior  mass  of  the  bottom, 
below  the  dry  surface  of  the  farms.  This  percolation  to  a 
great  extent,  supplies  the  place  of  an  overflow,  and  prevents 
the  usual  effects  of  a  drouth.  Upon  our  creek  and  small  river 
bottoms,  the  influence  of  this  percolation  is  quite  limited,  and, 
therefore,,  as  to  them,  an  occasional  overflow  is  more  neces 
sary  to  keep  up  their  original  fertility. 


COMPARISON  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  BELTS.      59 


Bottom  lands  of  Texas. 


Our  tillable  bottom  lands,  that  can  be  reclaimed  from  over 
flow,  are  made  in  two  very  different  ways,  and  are  differently 
located  in  the  bottom — one  lateral,  or  on  the  margin  of  the 
bottom,  and  the  other  central,  along  the  ordinary  chan 
nel  of  the  stream.  A  knowledge  of  this  process  may  aid  in 
their  successful  reclamation. 

There  are  from  time  to  time,  that  is,  once  in  about  every 
seven,  ten,  or  twenty  years,  extraordinary  overflows,  when,  as 
it  may  be  supposed,  all  of  the  tributaries  of  a  stream  are 
swollen  at  the  same  time,  which  heaves  out  of  the  channel 
immense  masses  of  earthy  matter,  and  deposits  it  mostly  upon 
the  borders  of  the  stream  that  runs  in  the  channel,  and  cany- 
ing  the  rest  out,  widens  by  elevating  the  general  surface  of 
the  bottom.  This  process,  aided  by  occasional  cut-offs  in  the 
bends  of  the  crooked  channel,  and  the  formation  of  lateral 
channels,  or  water-ways,  (commonly  called  "sloos")  causes  a 
portion  of  the  bottom,  generally  upon  the  margins  of  the 
channel  of  the  stream,  to  be  more  elevated  than  the  rest,  and 
not  subject  to  the  ordinary  annual  overflows  of  the  stream. 
Upon  these  marginal  tracts,  thus  elevated,  our  river  farms  are 
situated,  particularly  on  the  larger  and  more  rapid  streams, 
such  as  the  Brazos,  the  Colorado  and  Gaudaloupe.  Unless 
protected  by  levies  or  break-waters,  or  water-races  at  the 
edge  of  the  bottom  of  the  strip,  they  must  necessarily  be 
overflowed  periodically. 

The  other  mode,  by  which  elevations  are  made  in  the  bot 
toms,  is  very  different.  Let  the  stream  or  channel  of  a  creek 
or  river  bear  off  and  run  to  one  side  of  its  bottom  for  some 
distance,  and  another  smaller  stream,  dashing  down  from  the 
neighboring  hills,  enter  the  opposite  side  of  the  botom ;  the 
smaller  stream,  particularly  if  it  should  be  what  is  called  a 
dry  creek,  or  branch,  will  wander  through  the  bottom,  and 
very  soon  lose  its  channel  entirely,  and  spread  the  sediment 
of  its  overflows  all  over  the  adjacent  region  of  the  level  bot 
tom  ;  and  its  turbid  waters,  not  being  readily  drifted  off  by 
the  current  of  the  larger  stream,  gradually  makes  a  deposit, 
that  elevates  a  tract  of  land  on  the  outer  edge  of  the  bottoms, 
which  is  not  subject  to  the  ordinary  overflows  of  the  larger 
stream.  When  this  tract  of  lateral  elevation  is  brought  into 


60      COMPARISON  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  BELTS. 

Bottom  lands  of  Texas. 

cultivation,  it  is  only  necessary  to  make  a  sufficient  channel, 
or  water-way  for  the  smaller  stream,  so  as  to  convey  its 
waters  into  some  lower  portion  of  the  bottom.  The  sluggish 
streams  of  eastern  and  middle  Texas  have  much  more  of  such 
lateral  elevations,  than  the  swift  running  streams  of  the  west, 
as  may  be  seen  on  the  Sabine,  Trinity,  Neches  and  other 
streams.  For  the  more  rapid  the  current  of  a  stream  is,  the 
more  elevated  bottom  it  will  form  contiguous  to  the  channel, 
and  the  less  lateral  elevation,  because  its  pressing  current 
sweeps  down  all  lateral  accumulations,  and  invariably  causes 
the  out-edges  of  the  bottom  to  be  lower  than  that  part  which 
is  near  the  channel.  This  may  be  aptly  verified  by  reference 
to  the  two  rivers,  the  Sabine  and  the  Gaudaloupe.  The  latter, 
the  Gaudaloupe,  leaves  the  edge  of  the  mountains  at  an  ele 
vation  of  about  600  feet,  and  pitches  down  to  the  gulf  in  the 
distance  of  less  than  two  hundred  miles.  The  former,  the 
Sabine,  rises  near  the  east  fork  of  the  Trinity  in  Collin  county, 
at  an  elevation  of  nearly  600  feet,  and  creeps  in  a  serpentine 
track,  through  a  distance  of  at  least  four  hundred  miles  before 
reaching  the  gulf.  The  same  rules  hold  equally  good  when 
applied  to  creeks  and  bayous,  as  to  rivers. 

Now  the  great  problem  to  be  solved,  is,  how  can  these  fer 
tile  bottoms  be  rescued  from  the  devastations  of  these  over 
flows  ?  It  cannot  be  done  by  levies  on  the  banks  of  the  channel, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  the  channel  cannot  hold  and  carry 
off  all  the  water  of  the  overflows.  If  it  could,  there  would 
never  have  been  a  bottom  tract  formed.  In  this,  as  in  all 
other  works  of  human  improvement,  Nature  points  the  way. 
Let  any  bottom  be  examined,  and  where  there  are  the  most, 
the  deepest,  broadest,  and  longest  water-ways,  (or  sloos),  cut 
out  by  force  of  the  water,  there  is  the  most  redeemed  high 
land  in  the  bottom.  In  the  effort  to  carry  out  the  plan  here 
suggested,  it  must  be  predicated  upon  the  impossibility  of 
redeeming  the  whole  bottom ;  and  that  leads  to  a  calculation 
in  every  given  case,  as  to  how  much  space  of  the  bottom  must 
be  given  to  the  water,  and  by  what  means  shall  the  water  of 
the  overflow  be  made  to  run  in  that  abandoned  space,  with 
such  speed,  and  in  such  volume,  as  not  to  intrude  on  that 
part  of  the  bottom  sought  to  be  reclaimed  for  cultivation. 


COMPARISON  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  BELTS.      61 

Bottom  lands  of  Texas. 

This  is  simple,  and  practical,  and  will  be  carried  out  to  the  im 
provement  of  many  of  our  streams,  both  large  and  small,  when 
we  shall  have  learned  and  practiced  upon  the  great  advan 
tages  of  co-operative  effort,  by  which  broad  water-races  will 
be  made  for  ten  miles,  nearly  straight  in  our  creeks,  and  for 
fifty  miles  in  our  rivers,  so  that  the  waters  of  the  overflow  will 
rush  down  them  with  the  velocity  and  force  of  a  mill-race. 
There  is,  and  of  course  can  be,  no  relief  by  that  or  any  other 
precaution  against  those  periodic  overflows,  when  the  whole 
bottom  is  submerged  to  the  depth  of  eight  or  ten  feet,  as  was 
the  case  with  the  Red  River  in  1849,  and  with  the  Colorado 
River  only  a  few  years  since.  Our  rivers  in  eastern  and  mid 
dle  Texas,  not  having  their  sources  so  high  up  as  those  of 
Red  River  and  the  Colorado,  where  such  deluging  rain-storms 
are  accidentally,  and  only  occasionally,  drifted,  are  not  subject 
to  such  extreme  inundations. 

CLASSIFICATION  AND  GENERALIZATION. 

Some  years  ago  an  effort  was  made  in  the  "Texas  Alma 
nac,"  to  give  a  (fescription  of  Texas,  by  publishing  a  descrip 
tion  of  the  qualities,  productions,  &c.,  of  each  county  separ 
ately.  A  great  deal  of  information  was  thus  collected.  Its 
utility,  however,  depended  too  much  upon  mere  recollection. 

By  the  classification  and  generalization  adopted  in  this  and 
the  preceding  chapters,  a  knowledge  of  the  qualities  and  pro 
ductions  of  any  locality  may  more  readily  be  acquired,  and 
more  certainly  retained  in  the  memory.  By  this  system,  for 
instance,  if  the  question  be  asked,  what  sort  of  a  country  is  it 
in  Jasper  county,  in  Live-Oak  county,  in  Harris  county,  in 
Collin  county  in  Comajiche  county,  or  in  El  Paso  county,  it 
will  only  be  necessary  to  look  at  the  map  of  Texas  and  find 
its  locality,  in  reference  to  the  different  belts,  and  the  climate, 
dependent  upon  its  physical  geography,  to  answer  the  ques 
tion. 

So  if  it  be  asked,  what  is  the  character  of  the  bottom-lands 
of  the  Sabine,  of  the  Trinity,  of  the  Colorado,  of  the  Gauda- 
loupe  or  Neucces  rivers,  the  question  is  easily  answered,  from 
their  length  in  the  gulf  plain,  and  from  the  fall  of  their  water 
per  mile  in  their  respective  course  in  it. 


CHAPTER  V. 


NATURAL  SOURCES  OF   WEALTH. 


Natural  sources  of  wealth  in  Texas  in  its  minerals  and  timbers;  and  trees,  shrubs, 
plants  and  flowers,  as  objects  of  utility  and  ornament. 

Coal  and  coal  oil.  A  vein  of  lignite  from  the  Sabine  River  to  the  Rio  Grande 
and  coal  in  different  places. 

Copper  in  northern  Texas.  Gold  and  silver — the  tradition  concerning  them,  £c. 
Iron  abounding  in  the  east  and  found  in  the  west.  Rocks  for»  buildings, 
fences,  and  other  purposes,  found  in  almost  every  region. 

Gypsum,  clay,  marl  and  sand. 

Fertility  of  soil  largely  dependent  on  character  of  the  sub-soils, — interesting  ex 
ceptions  in  parts  of  eastern  Texas  and  the  reason  therefor. 

Wood  and  fencing.  Post-oak — the  great  fencing  timber  of  the  prairies,  &c. 
Red-oak  and  Black-oak  in  the  east.  Cedar — its  localities  and  use  for  fencing. 
Pine  timber  in  south-eastern  Texas, — its  amount  and  the  advantages  connected 
with  it.  Cypress-timber  in  same  locality.  Hickory  and  white-oak  in  the  east 
for  wagons  and  carriages.  Bois  D'Arc  timber  in  northern  Texas — its  uses  and 
value.  Live-oak  of  the  south  and  west,  its  boundary  and  extent.  Pecan,  its 
locality  and  value.  Musquite  of  the  prairies. 

Hedges — great  profit  of — must  be  made  of  a  plant  or  shrub.  The  Prickly  Pear — 
its  uses  as  a  hedge  and  otherwise.  The  Pappaw  and  persimmon — their  uses. 
Other  trees,  plants  and  flowers. 

Cordage — Bear  grass  in  eastern  and  middle  Texas  good  for  ropes,  &c.,  its  uses. 
Medicinal  trees  and  plants,  large  number  specified.  Wood-growing — the 
China  tree  and  tree  of  Paradise.  The  valuable  lessons  taught  by  the  forests 
of  a  country. 

Texas  has  a  vast  natural  wealth,  for  the  most  part  yet  unde 
veloped,  in  her  rocks  and  other  minerals,  in  her  forests  of  tim 
ber  trees,  and  fruit  trees,  and  in  her  other  trees,  shrubs,  vines, 
plants  and  flowers,  which  are  objects  of  ornament  and  utility. 
We  will  now  attempt  to  give  some  account  of  this  wealth. 
COAL  AND  COAL-OIL.  (See  Map  4.) 

There  is  a  bed  of  lignite  that  crosses  the  Sabine  River  in 
Shelby  county,  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  below  the  32nd  degree  of 
north  latitude,  and  running  south  of  west  through  the  state. 
It  may  be  seen  in  the  banks  of  the  different  rivers.  When 
dried  it  burns  as  freely  as  dried  wood.  Above  this,  another 

62 


NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH.  63 

Coal  and  Coal  Oil — Copper. 

bed  of  lignite  or  imperfect  coal  runs  somewhat  parallel  with 
it  through  Cass  county,  through  Marion  county  below  Jeffer 
son,  and  on  through  Cherokee  county,  in  the  direction  of 
Bastrop,  near  which  place  it  is  also  found.  It  is  found  near 
Fort  Belknap,  high  up  on  the  Brazos,  of  superior  quality ;  and 
it  is  fair  to  presume  that  upon  that  line  of  altitude  it  may  be 
found  clear  across  the  country.  It  is  said  to  have  been  found 
in  many  other  places,  but  there  has  as  yet  been  no  such  ex 
aminations  as  to  establish  connected  beds  of  it,  correspond 
ing  in  direction  with  the  lignite  bed  referred  to.  Each  bed 
improves  in  quality  as  it  is  found  to  lie  further  up  the  country 
towards  the  "staked  plain."  Enough  has  been  ascertained  to 
demonstrate  that  it  will  be  found  in  abundance  in  different 
parts  of  Texas,  when  it  is  needed.  The  oil-spring,  as  it  is 
called,  in  the  Indian  Territory,  just  north  of  Red  River, 
gives  promise  of  coal  oil  in  one  of  the  upper  lines  of  coal  that 
passes  through  Texas.  The  oil  spring,  or  as  it  was  called  by 
the  old  settlers  the  "tar  spring,"  within  a  few  miles  of  San  Au 
gustine,  together  with  other  indications  on  the  line  of  lignite, 
show  that  coal  oil  may  be  found  in  this  state.  The  oily  mat 
ter  that  exuded  from  the  "tar  spring"  was  used  as  tar  in 
greasing  wagons,  and,  also,  as  a  remedy  for  the  tooth-ache  by 
the  early  settlers  in  that  section. 

A  most  remarkable  effect  is  attributed  to  this  oil,  that 
exudes  from  the  surface  of  the  earth  in  the  waier  upon  the 
gulf  coast  not  far  west  of  Sabine  Pass.  When  the  beach  in 
that  locality  is  unusally  lashed  by  the  waves  in  a  storm,  the 
oil  rises  to  the  surface,  and  levels  it  for  some  distance  out  from 
the  beach.  It  is  said,  that  this  being  known  to  those  engaged 
in  the  coasting  trade  with  small  vessels,  the  place  is  sought 
as  a  safe  refuge  in  time  of  a  storm. 

COPPER.     (See  Map  4.) 

Copper  ore  of  good  quality  is  found  upon  the  waters  of  the 
Wichita  Rivers  in  northern  Texas,  and  has  been  discovered  in 
various  places  in  a  large  scope  of  country  in  that  section; 
which,  being  uninhabited,  has  not  yet  been  worked.  It  prom 
ises  great  wealth  to  the  state  in  the  future,  as  it  is  in  close 
proximity  to  the  region  of  good  coal,  and  will  before  long  be 
reached  by  railroads. 


64  NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH. 


Gold  &  Silver — Iron. 


GOLD  AND  SILVER. 

Ever  since  De  Soto  made  his  expedition  into  the  territory 
of  Texas  in  search  of  gold,  as  it  may  be  imagined,  but 
certainly  for  many  years  back,  there  have  been  rumors  circula 
ted  that  gold  had  been,  and  could  be,  found  high  up  the  rivers 
in  Texas.  Many  have  been  the  attempts  to  find  it,  and  often 
has  a  feverish  excitement  passed  through  the  country,  aroused 
by  some  fresh  version  of  the  old  tradition,  that  it  certainly 
could  then  be  found.  It  was  said  for  a  time  that  it  was  pri 
vately  known  to  some  persons  who  did  not  endeavor  to  open 
the  mines,  because  minerals  and  salt  springs  had  been  retained 
by  the  state,  in  pursuance  of  the  Spanish  and  Mexican  cus 
tom.  Still,  notwithstanding  the  late  removal  of  that  impedi 
ment  by  a  provision  in  the  constitution,  the  gold,  if  it  is  there, 
has  not  been  molested.  It  is  probable  from  the  geological 
strata  there  exposed  to  the  surface,  and  from  other  indications, 
that  the  tradition  will  still  be  confirmed.  There  are  the  remains 
of  a  mining  establishment  in  the  upper  portion  of  Llano  or 
San  Saba  county,  where  it  is  said  the  Spaniards  worked  a  silver 
mine.  There  is  an  ore  in  Van  Zandt  county  that  makes  a 
hard,  white  metal.  Doubtless  other  valuable  metals  will  be 
discovered  when  the  country  is  settled,  and  there  is  sufficient 
labor  to  dig  them  out  of  the  earth. 

IRON. 

There  is  (so  to  speak)  a  back-bone  ridge,  running  from 
near  the  north-east  corner  of  the  state,  a  south-west  course, 
passing  near  Dangerfield,  Gilmer,  Tyler,  and  Palestine,  through 
Leon  county,  and  continuing  in  that  direction,  which  abounds 
in  iron  ore.  (See  Map  4.)  The  spurs  or  branches  from  this 
extend  out  in  different  places,  which  spread  out  the  iron  ore 
region,  manifesting  itself  in  iron  ore  hills  extensively,  over 
what  has  been  heretofore  denominated  the  black-jack  belt  of 
country  in  Texas.  It  has  proved  to  be  of  good  quality  in  the 
upper  edge  of  Marion  county,  where  it  has  been  worked. 
Extensive  arrangements  were  being  made  at  the  close  of  the 
late  civil  war  to  work  it  in  Cherokee  and  Anderson  counties, 
which,  however,  were  never  perfected.  It  is  very  doubt 
ful  whether  there  is  any  stone  coal  in  the  vicinity  of  this 
ore,  by  which  it  can  be  smelted  in  furnaces.  The  railroads 


NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH.  65 


Iron — Rocks. 


that  are  made,  and  being  made,  will  obviate  that  difficulty 
when  capital  and  labor  shall  have  been  applied  to  develop 
this  great  source  of  wealth.  In  the  high  country,  above  the 
edge  of  the  mountains  and  cross-timbers,  great  abundance  of 
iron  ore  is  reported  to  exist,  and  there  it  will  be  in  close  prox 
imity  to  coal  and  lime  to  work  it. 

ROCKS  ;    for  buildings,  fences   and   other    purposes. 
(See  Map  4.) 

In  the  timbered  portion  of  Texas,  which  is  in  the  eastern 
and  south-eastern  parts  of  the  state,  the  rocks  are  for  the 
most  part  sand  stone  of  some  sort,  which  is  not  very  much 
used  for  anything.  The  iron  ore-sand  stone,  though  rough, 
is  valuable  for  coarse  structures,  such  as  the  culverts  in  rail 
roads.  There  is  a  very  fine  building  rock,  underlaying  the 
red-lands  of  eastern  Texas,  which  may  be  often  seen  cropping 
out  of  knobs  and  abrupt  ridges.  It  is  a  shell-marl  and  clay 
cement,  of  yellow,  grey  color.  It  may  be  easily  cut  into  shape 
when  dug  out  from  under  the  surface,  and  hardens  when  ex 
posed  to  the  air,  or  to  heat.  It  is  extensively  used  for  chim 
neys,  and  for  jams  and  backs  of  brick  chimneys,  and  was  the 
material  with  which  was  built  the  famous  "old  stone  house," 
in  Nacogdoches,  which  has  stood  fora  hundred  years  without 
any  apparent  damage  from  exposure  to  the  weather. 

In  the  prairie  portion  of  Texas,  in  the  west  and  north-west 
parts  of  the  state,  the  rocks  are,  for  the  most  part,  some 
species  of  limestone.  Underlaying  the  soil  of  the  black,  limy 
belt  below  the  mountains  and  cross-timbers,  there  is  a  bed  of 
white,  chalky  lime  rock,  that  may  be  seen  in  the  channels  of 
the  streams,  and  sometimes  most  conspicuously  cropping  out 
of  the  bluff-shaped  western  margin  of  that  belt,  which,  when 
seen  at  a  distance,  has  the  appearance  of  rows  of  white  houses. 
It  is  sawed  or  cut  with  an  axe,  into  shape,  for  building ;  and 
it  hardens  when  exposed  to  the  air,  assuming  a  pale,  yellowish 
color,  and  bears  and  preserves  a  good  face.  It  is  the  material 
with  which  the  outside  of  the  capitol  of  the  state  at  Austin 
is  built.  It  has  been  used  extensively  for  chimneys,  though  it 
does  not  stand  the  heat  of  the  fire  very  well.  It  seems  to  lie 
in  a  continuous  bed,  and  is  very  free  from  any  extraneous 
particles,  such  as  pebbles,  shells,  or  earthy  matter  that  would 


66  NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH. 


Rocks — Gypsum,  Clay,  Marl  &  Sand. 


discolor  it,  or  change  its  uniformity.  The  only  thing  that  has 
been  noticed,  as  being  incorporated  in  it,  is  a  very  heavy, 
hard,  round  ball,  (perhaps  a  sulphate  of  iron)  commonly 
called  "a  sulphur  ball,"  often  about  the  size  of  a  hen's  egg, 
(This  is  most  striking  evidence  that  this  bed  of  cretaceous 
limestone  was  a  gradual  deposit  beneath  a  deep,  swift,  and 
powerful  current  of  water,  that  held  the  materials  of  which 
the  bed  is  composed  in  solution, — the  strength  of  the  current 
being  sufficient  to  cast  out  of  its  track  every  other  substance, 
except  these  very  heavy  balls,  which,  from  their  weight,  found 
a  resting  place  within  it.) 

Above  this  bed  of  white,  soft,  cretaceous  limestone,  that  is, 
up  the  country  from  it,  the  limestone  rock  becomes  harder, 
and  less  white,  being  gray,  and  pale  yellow ;  often  approaching 
the  appearance  of  coarse  marble,  which  is  used  for  building 
houses,  chimneys,  pavements,  and  fences.  It  requires  to  be 
put  into  shape  with  the  hammer.  It  makes  good  white  lime 
when  burned.  Some  little  idea  of  the  vast  amount  of  it  may 
be  acquired,  by  considering  the  fact,  that  the  mountains  above 
San  Antonio,  Austin  and  other  places  on  that  line,  (which, 
though  called  mountains,  are  really  nothing  but  the  broken, 
precipitous  edge  of  the  high  plains  above),  rise  from  the  bot 
tom  to  the  top,  by  layers  of  flat  rock,  piled  one  upon  the 
other  in  regular  succession,  and  often  of  a  thickness  appro 
priate  for  building  purposes,  and  for  pavements.  It  is  difficult 
to  imagine  how  such  a  supply  could  be  exhausted.  Already 
it  is  beginning  to  find  its  way  upon  the  railroads  to  other  parts  of 
the  country,  as  an  article  of  commerce.  There  is  marble  rock 
of  different  sorts,  not  far  up  the  streams  from  the  lower  edge 
of  the  mountains,  and  in  the  variety  found,  there  is,  in  the 
Colorado  River  above  Austin,  a  most  beautiful  black  marble. 
'It  is  not  to  be  doubted,  from  what  we  already  know,  that  a 
geological  exploration  will  give  information  of  many  other 
sorts  of  valuable  rocks. 

GYPSUM,  CLAY,  MARL  AND  SAND. 

As  indicated  by  the  rocks,  the  timbered  region  of  the  east 
is  characterized  by  earths  of  clay,  sand,  and  marl  of  various 
sorts,  and  the  prairie  region  of  the  west,  by  earths  largely 
composed  of  limy  materials.  In  both,  however,  an  abundance 


NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH.  6; 

Gypsum,  clay,  marl  and  san<l. 

of  materials  is  found  for  making  good  bricks.  There  is  a 
great  deal  of  superior  fine  clay,  red,  yellow  and  white,  in  many 
parts  of  eastern  Texas,  some  of  which  has  long  been  used  for 
making  jugs,  crocks,  and  jars;  and  during  the  late  war,  rude 
plates,  cups  and  saucers  were  made,  and  extensively  used  for 
a  time ;  which  shows  what  could  be  done  in  that  field  of  en 
terprise,  if  we  had  to  rely  on  our  own  resources. 

In  the  west,  going  up  the  country  from  the  black,  limy  belt, 
there  are  beds  of  gypsum  in  many  localities,  and,  high  up  in 
the  region  of  the  "staked  plain,"  there  is  reported  to  be  the 
largest  bed  of  it  that  is  known,  covering  an  area  of  three  to 
four  hundred  miles  square,  extending  from  Texas  up  into 
New  Mexico.  When  the  Texas  Pacific  railroad  shall  have 
reached  that  region  an  immense  mine  of  wealth  will  be  opened 
in  Texas,  in  the  supply  of  plaster  of  Paris,  and  manures  from 
that  bed  of  gypsum  alone. 

Although  clay  and  sand  may  not  be  otherwise  useful,  than 
as  constituting  a  body  of  earth  to  collect,  retain,  and  aid  the 
chemical  action  of  other  materials  for  fertilization,  there  are,  in 
most  parts  of  Texas,  sub-soils  of  clay,  marls  and  other  admix 
tures  of  clay,  sand,  lime,  shells,  and  other  earthy  materials, 
that  may  be  dug  out,  and  upon  being  oxydized,  and  carbon 
ized,  by  exposure  to  the  atmosphere,  or  by  being  burned, 
will  prove  to  be  useful  fertilizers  at  a  cheap  cost.  Farmers, 
who  have  good  clay  sub-soils,  must  have  noticed  the  increased 
fertility  in  their  fields  near  clay  roots,  where  the  up-rooted 
trees  have  brought  the  sub-soil  to  the  surface,  and  it  has  for 
several  years  been  exposed  to  the  atmosphere,  and  been  in 
termixed  by  cultivation  with  the  surface  soil. 

Indeed,  as  has  been  previously  said,  there  is  some  sort  of 
good  fertilizing  material  under  the  soil  of  every  farm,  or  tract 
of  land,  that  is  fertile,  or  that  was  originally  fertile,  that  may 
be  dug  up  and  utilized  as  a  manure.  Some  of  them  are  very 
active,  and  produce  their  good  results  immediately,  as  is  the 
case  with  the  lime  and  chalky-lime  substrata  of  the  west,  and 
the  shell  marl  of.  the  red-lands  of  the  east.  Others,  partak 
ing  more  of  clay  and  sand,  are  slow,  so  that  experiment  and 
experience  must  discover  the  modes  by  which  their  effects  are 
to  be  hastened,  by  artificial  means,  or  by  admixtures,  as 


68  NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH. 


Gypsum,  clay,  marl  and  sand. 


doubtless  they  will,  when  there  shall  be  a  greater  necessity  in 
this  country  for  a  knowledge  of  agricultural  chemistry  and 
scientific  culture. 

There  is  an  exception  to  the  above  rule  of  fertilizing  sub 
strata  that  it  may  be  well  to  notice,  for  the  better  understand 
ing  of  the  rule  itself,  and  which  may  be  aptly  illustrated  by 
reference  to  tracts  of  country  in  the  magnolia  belt,  running 
through  the  counties  of  Newton,  Jasper,  and  on  westwardly, 
on  or  about  the  line  of  31  degrees  north  latitude. 

The  tracts  referred  to  are  what  are  called  "hammock  lands," 
overgrown  with  a  large  forest  and  a  thick  under-growth,  that 
has  supplanted  the  cane-brakes,  that  originally  covered  them. 
(Mr.  John  Bevill,  the  first  settler  of  Jasper,  told  me  many  years 
ago,  with  a  sort  of  frontiers-man  pride,  that  he  cut  his  way 
through  a  heavy  cane-brake  to  where  the  town  of  Jasper 
is  situated,  where  he  then  settled.)  The  sand  of  the  soil  is 
deep  and  coarse,  and  the  sub-soil  is  a  coarse  sand,  but  slightly 
intermixed  with  a  poor  yellow  clay,  which  is  very  similar  to 
the  earth  upon  which  the  long-leaf  pine  grows  in  the  same 
neighborhood.  As  the  result  of  such  a  conformation,  it  is 
very  liable  to  wash  into  very  deep  gullies,  and  also  has  ex 
ceedingly  active  powers  of  evaporation,  by  which  the  fertil 
izing  materials  of  the  surface,  being  more  volatile  than  the 
rest,  escape  into  the  air  and  hasten  their  exhaustion.  They 
do  not  sink,  as  it  is  commonly  supposed,  but  fl^  away  upon 
the  fast  up-rising  wings  of  the  atmosphere.  Notwithstanding 
this  unusual  combination  of  draw-backs  to  fertility,  the  sur 
face  soil  consists  of  a  deep,  rich,  sandy  loam,  that  renders 
farms  very  productive  for  some  years  after  they  are  first  cleared 
and  put  into  cultivation.  In  looking  about  for  an  explanation 
of  this,  it  is  found  that  these  hammock  lands  are  ridges  usually 
situated  from  a  few  hundred  yards  to  a  mile  or  more  wide, 
each  side  of  beautiful  clear  streams,  that  are  flush  all  the  year 
round,  which,  by  their  continuous  application  of  moisture 
along  their  course  for  centuries  past,  have  converted  what  was 
evidently  a  pine  forest  into  a  magnificent  growth  of  oak, 
magnolia,  beach,  sugar-maple,  ash,  holly,  wild-peach,  inter 
twined  with  clustering  vines, — rivaling  the  tropics  in  the  splen 
dor  and  profusion  of  their  deep  green  foliage ;  and  thereby 


NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH.  69 

Timber,  wood  and  fencing. 


have  enriched  the  surface  soil,  by  the  intermixture  and  decay 
of  vegetable  matter.  Other  tracts  of  country,  such  as  the 
blue-jack  sand  flats,  further  north  in  eastern  and  middle  Texas, 
are  subject  more  or  less  to  the  same  draw-backs,  without  the 
same  remunerative  accompaniment  of  similar  streams  of  water, 
but  which  are  somewhat  relieved  from  the  disadvantage  by  a 
finer  sand  and  an  admixture  of  better  clay  sub-soil.  Lands  of 
this  and  like  character,  as  well,  perhaps,  as  the  thin,  shallow 
soiled  post-oak  lands  with  coarse,  clay  sub-soil,  that  may  be 
seen  in  parts  of  southern  Texas,  are  injured  in  their  produc 
tion,  by  being  very  deeply  turned  over  with  the  plow,  which 
makes  them  striking  exceptions,  in  that  regard,  to  any  other 
sort  of  lands  in  Texas,  where  there  is  a  richer  sub-aoil. 

The  great  use  of  a  good  clay  sub-soil  in  agriculture  is,  that 
it  answers  the  double  purpose  of  retaining  the  moisture  that 
sinks  into  it,  and  holds  it  in  store  better  than  most  other 
earths,  to  be  drawn  up  by  evaporation  in  dry  and  warm 
weather;  and  also  sends  up  to  the  surface,  in  the  process  of 
evaporation,  fertilizing  materials,  that  are  imbedded  in  it,  in 
which  the  red  clays  are  generally  the  richest.  For  the  same 
reason,  sub- soils  of  limy  materials  are  very  valuable  in  agri 
culture. 

TIMBER,  WOOD  AND  FENCING. 

The  line  of  division,  between  the  prairies  and  forests  of 
Texas,  may,  for  all  practical  purposes,  be  indicated,  by  a  line 
drawn  from  a  point,  thirty  to  fifty  miles  up  Red  River  from 
the  north-east  corner  of  the  state,  to  a  point  thirty  miles  west 
of  Corpus  Christi ;  though  prairies  will  be  found  east, 
and  south-east  of  that  line,  and  bodies  and  strips  of  wood 
west  of  it. 

POST-OAK. — On  and  near  that  line  is  usually  found  a  broad 
belt  of  post-oak,  which  may  well  be  deemed  the  principal 
fencing  timber  of  the  prairies,  being  found  in  bodies  and  strips, 
not  only  on  that  line,  but  in  large  bodies  in  the  cross-timbers, 
and  in  many  other  places  in  most  parts  of  Texas,  except  in 
the  high  plains  of  the  far-west.  This  tree,  in  most  of  the 
states  eastward  of  this,  is  tough,  and  hard  to  split  into  rails. 
Our  prairie  post-oak,  strange  to  say,  splits  easily,  and,  what 
might  seem  equally  strange,  split  cotton  baskets  are  made 


;o  -NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH. 

Red  and  Black  Oaks,  Cedar,  Pine. 


with  it,  as  a  substitute  for  white-oak  splits  usually  used  for  that 
purpose.  (See  Map  No.  5.) 

RED  AND  BLACK  OAKS  are  also  in  abundance  for  fencing 
in  many  parts  of  the  eastern  portion  of  the  state. 

CEDAR  is  extensively  used  for  fencing  in  many  portions 
of  the  prairie  country,  as  in  Dallas,  Limestone,  Grimes,  Wash 
ington,  Bell,  and  Travis,  counties ;  being  abundant  upon  the 
ledge  of  mountains  above  Austin,  San  Antonio  and  other 
places.  (See  Map  No.  5.) 

PINE  TIMBER. — Lying  just  above  the  belt  of  the  gulf  prai 
rie  on  the  south,  and  the  Sabine  River  on  the  east,  covering 
an  area  equal  to  eighty  or  one  hundred  miles  square,  there  is 
a  large  body  of  long-leaf  pine  of  superior  quality,  interspersed 
but  sparsely  with  strips  and  bodies  of  other  timber.  On  the 
north  of  that  there  are  strips  and  spots  of  short-leaf  pine,  that 
may  be  found  in  different  places,  intermixing  with  the  black 
jack  belt,  for  eighty  to  one  hundred  miles  on  the  eastern  bor 
der  of  the  state,  which  is  being  rapidly  sawed  up  for  home 
consumption,  and  to  supply  the  prairies,  now  carried  there  by 
way  of  the  railroads,  and  formerly  by  ox-teams.  The  great 
body  of  long-leaf  pine,  between  the  Sabine  and  Trinity 
Rivers,  has  been  comparatively  but  little  consumed.  On  the 
rivers  and  other  streams,  running  in  and  through  it,  as  well 
as  some  distince  above,  there  are  fine  bodies  of  cypress  trees, 
which  have  to  some  extent  been  used  for  shingles,  which  are 
thought  to  be  more  desirable  than  any  others.  There  are 
great  advantages  incidentally  connected  with  this  large  body 
of  long-leaf  pine  and  cypress  timber.  The  Sabine,  Neches, 
Angelina,  and  Trinity  Rivers  are  navigable,  all  the  way 
through  it,  for  steamboats,  or  other  craft,  for  the  period  of 
from  four  to  eight  months  in  the  year,  down  which,  as  well  as 
down  many  of  their  tributaries,  during  the  freshets  of  winter 
and  spring,  logs  can  be  rafted  into  Sabine  Bay,  where  they 
can  be  stored  away  for  the  use  (during  the  whole  year)  of 
mills,  erected  on  the  channel  of  the  Pass,  which  is  five  or  six 
miles  long,  upon  which  a  great  number  of  saw-mills  and 
shingle  mills  may  be  erected,  without  incurring  any  great  cost 
for  the  space  occupied  by  them.  A  thriving  business  of  this 


NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH.  ;i 


Hickory  and  White  Oak — Bois  D'Arc. 


sort  has  been  carried  on  for  some  time  past  at  Orange,  situ 
ated  low  down  upon  the  Sabine  River.     (See  Map  No.  5.) 

HICKORY  AND  WHITE-OAK. — Throughout  the  same  region 
of  country,  and  on  a  strip  of  country  north  of  it,  extending 
out  from  the  eastern  border  of  the  state,  thirty  to  forty  miles, 
there  is  on  and  near  the  streams,  a  large  quantity  of  tail, 
thrifty  white-oaks,  and  hickory  trees  of  different  sorts,  includ 
ing  the  scaly-bark  hickory,  which  is  very  suitable  for  wagon, 
carriage,  barrel  and  plow  timbers ;  and  which  are  also  so 
situated  as  to  be  rafted  down  the  same  .streams.  It  is  not 
only  of  superior  quality  in  fineness  of  grain,  but  it  is  neither 
wind-shaken,  nor  fractured  by  the  frost  of  winter,  which  gives 
it  an  advantage  over  the  timber  of  the  north.  Some  of  much 
inferior  quality  is  manufactured  and  sold  all  over  Texas,  in 
the  shape  of  wagons  and  other  vehicles,  plows,  chairs  and 
even  axe-handles.  (See  Map  No.  5.) 

Bois  D'ARC  (pronounced  Bodark). — This  tree  grows  in  a 
belt  of  country  in  northern  Texas  about  twenty  to  thirty  miles 
wide  and  over  one  hundred  miles  long,  reaching  from  the 
mouth  of  East  Fork,  (or  as  formerly  most  commonly  called 
"Bois  D'Arc  Fork")  of  the  Trinity  River  northwardly  to  Red 
River.  It  derives  its  name,  "Bois  D'Arc,"  which  means  bow- 
ii<ood,  from  the  use  made  of  it  by  the  Indians,  in  making  their 
bows.  When  selected  from  the  young,  vigorous  trees,  the 
wood  is  strong,  tough,  hard  and  extremely  elastic  ;  by  all  which 
qualities  combined  together,  it  is  well  deserving  of  the  name  of 
bow-wood.  With  their  bows  made  of  it,  the  Comanches  kill 
buffaloes  in  the  chase.  In  its  native  locality,  it  is  usually  a  short, 
crooked,  or  stooping,  thorny  tree,  that  does  not  grow  larger 
than  the  China  tree ;  but  when  planted  so  as  to  have  full  room 
to  grow,  it  grows  erect  in  shape,  not  unlike  the  apple  tree,  and 
has  leaves  much  resembling,  (though  larger  than)  the 
orange  tree,  from  which  it  is  sometimes  called  the  "osage 
orange."  It  bears  a  large,  round  fruit,  called  Bois  D'Arc 
apple,  with  seed  distributed  through  it,  like  those  of  an 
orange,  rather  than  like  those  of  an  apple.  The  fruit  is  eaten 
by  horses  that  are  accustomed  to  it.  The  sap  of  the  wood  is 
white,  and  the  heart,  being  large,  is  dark  red,  or  reddish 
brown.  It  is  the  best  wagon  timber  that  is  known,  at  least  in 


;2  NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH. 


Bois  IV Arc— Live  Oak. 


this  country,  though  it  may  be  too  brittle  for  small  carriages. 
That,  however,  has  not  been  sufficiently  tested,  by  using  the 
young,  vigorous  growth,  that  is  not  so  brittle  as  the  old  trees. 
The  length  of  its  durability  is  as  yet  unknown,  as  it  has  not 
yet  been  known  to  rot,  though  long  used  in  wagons,  especial 
ly  in  the  felloes  of  the  wheels ;  nor  does  it  wreather-wear,  as 
oak  or  other  timber,  but  after  twenty  years  use,  and  exposure, 
it  presents  a  smooth,  undented,  sleek  surface,  as  if  it  had  been 
freshly  worked  over  with  the  plane.  It  is  easily  worked  when 
green,  though  very  hard  when  dry-seasoned.  Perhaps  the 
most  remarkable  of  all  of  its  extraordinary  qualities  is  its  free 
dom  from  shrinkage,  by  which  it  may  be  worked  green  as 
well  as  dry.  The  tire  of  a  Bois  D'Arc  wheel  never  has  to  be 
removed  and  shortened,  though  it  may  stand  in  the  rain  and 
sunshine  for  years.  It  has,  for  some  years  back,  been  manu 
factured  into  wagons  at  Dallas  and  other  places,  and  so  ex 
cellent  is  it  generally  regarded,  that  the  wood-work  of  a  wagon 
sells  for  double  the  price  of  that  made  with  other  timber.  It 
is  being  used  for  ties  on  the  Texas  Pacific  railroad,  for  which 
a  high  price  is  paid.  The  seed  has  been  distributed,  as  an 
article  of  sale,  in  this  and  other  states,  from  which  have  been 
grown  hedges.  It  will  prove  a  failure  for  that  purpose,  except 
to  guard  against  large  stock,  unless  it  is  continually  pruned 
dowrn,  simply  because  it  is  a  tree,  and,  by  its  nature,  aspires 
upwards,  and  is  not  a  shrub  that  is  content  to  nestle  its 
spreading  branches  on  and  near  the  ground.  It  is  said  that 
its  wood  makes  a  good  dye. 

A  rather  lengthy  notice  has  here  been  taken  of  this  tree ; 
because  it  is  believed  to  be  the  most  valuable  timber  of  this 
country,  for  the  purposes  to  which  it  is  adapted,  excelling  all 
others  in  solidity  and  durability,  for  wagons  and  large  carri 
ages,  equalling  mahogany  for  furniture,  useful  for  fencing- 
posts,  railroad  ties,  and  various  other  things;  (not  omitting 
walking  sticks  for  old  men,  or  others  who  display  that  article 
of  utility  or  fancy, )  and  that  from  the  facility  of  propagating 
and  growing  it,  it  must  ere  long  attract  attention,  as  a  pro 
duction  for  an  extensive  commerce  in  the  timber-markets  of 
the  world.  (See  Map  No.  5.) 


NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH.  ;3 


Live  Oak — Pecan. 


LIVE-OAK. — There  is  no  native  live-oak  in  eastern  Texas. 
The  eastern  margin  of  the  belt  of  live-oak,  running  clear 
through  Texas  from  south  to  north,  and  back  up  the  country, 
and  westwardly  for  a  considerable  distance,  may  be  sufficient 
ly  indicated  by  a  line  drawn  from  the  mouth  of  the  Brazos 
River,  northwardly  in  the  direction  of  Fort  Worth.  Low 
down  on  and  near  the  Brazos,  Colorado,  and  perhaps  other 
rivers  of  southern  Texas,  it  grows  large,  with  wide  spreading 
branches,  and  much  of  it  will  be  valuable  for  ship  timber.  As 
you  go  further  up  the  country,  it  becomes  less  in  size,  and 
more  scrubby,  but  is  there  valuable  for  fire-wood,  as  it  burns 
well,  and  produces  very  great  heat.  A  remarkable  circum 
stance  may  be  noticed,  in  relation  to  the  facility  with  which 
this  wood  when  dry,  (as  well  as  the  elm,  which  also  is  plenti 
ful  in  the  west,)  will  slowly  but  certainly  burn  without  a  flame 
(one  piece  of  it,  by  itself,  being  ignited,)  until  the  entire  piece 
is  consumed ;  whereas,  in  eastern  Texas,  the  oak  and  elm  there 
grown  require  the  aid  of  dry  pine,  or  light-wood,  or  other 
such  appliances,  to  make  it  burn  at  all,  thereby,  even  the  wood, 
in  the  process  of  burning,  announcing  the  great  difference  in 
the  dryness  of  the  climate  in  the  western  and  eastern  portions 
of  Texas. 

PECAN. — This  tree  grows  abundantly  in  the  bottoms  of 
the  Trinity,  and  of  other  rivers  west  of  that  in  Texas,  and  also 
in  some  places  on  and  near  other  smaller  streams.  Its  nuts 
are  gathered,  and  have  already  become  profitable,  as  an  object 
of  commerce.  It  is  not  perceived  why  many  of  our  rich 
bottoms,  that  are  too  low  for  cultivation,  might  not  be  cleared 
up  and  planted  in  pecan  trees  with  great  profit,  except  that 
the  time  has  not  yet  arrived  for  any  of  us  to  make  so  long  a 
loan  without  the  interest  being  annually  paid.  A  good  finan 
cier,  (Frost  Thorn,  of  Nacogdoches,)  once  said,  that  if  he 
could  restore  the  pecan  trees  that  once  stood  upon  his  Red 
River  plantation,  (near  Nachitbches  in  Louisiana)  he  would 
prefer  them  to  his  cotton  farm.  He  must,  of  course,  be  under 
stood,  not  that  they  would  have  yielded  more  money  than  the 
cotton  farm,  but  more  in  proportion  to  the  risk,  and  to  the 
capital  invested.  Fruit  growing  in  cultivated  orchards,  has 


NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH. 


Musquite — Hedges. 


long  since  taught  that  lesson  in  the  northern  states  and  is 
slowly  beginning  to  teach  it  here. 

MUSQUITE. — This  is  emphatically  the  tree  of  the  prairies  of 
Texas.  It  is  rapidly  increasing,  and  spreading  over  them  in 
many  places.  The  old  trees,  standing  often  in  clusters  on  the 
prairie,  present,  at  a  little  distance,  very  much  the  appearance 
of  an  old  neglected  apple  orchard.  It,  in  its  leaves  and 
thorns,  is  something  like  the  black-locust,  and,  like  it,  bears  a 
bean  which  horses  are  fond  9f.  The  tree  can  die  and  dr}^  up, 
but  it  seems  almost  impossible  for  it  to  decay.  When  dead 
and  dry,  its  toughness  and  solidity  remind  one  of  buck's-horns. 
When  ignited  it  makes  a  most  intense  heat,  and  is  used, 
when  used  at  all,  principally  for  fuel ;  and  will  most  likely 
prove  to  be  the  very  best  wood  that  can  be  grown  in  the  west 
for  fuel,  when  it  shall  become  necessary  there  to  engage  in 
wood  growing.  It  will  prove  to  be  a  most  valuable  timber 
for  carriages,  chairs,  and  other  small  fabrics,  when  properly 
tried. 

HEDGES. — One  of  the  early  necessities  of  Texas  is  a  good 
material  for  hedges.  The  money-value  of  fences  of  the  ordi 
nary  kind,  whether  made  of  rails  or  planks,  during  a  century, 
is  so  great  as  to  astonish  any  one  who  has  not  made  some 
estimate  of  it.  The  difference  between  the  expense  of  them 
and  good  permanent  hedges,  made  out  of  the  proper  material, 
would  build  every  farmer  in  the  state  a  comfortable,  neat 
dwelling,  educate  his  children,  work  the  roads  of  the  neigh 
borhoods,  and  build  their  school  houses  and  churches.  And 
should  fencing  for  farms  be  abolished  entirely  by  law,  which 
will  not  be  found  practical  in  a  sparsely  settled  country,  still 
there  will  be  a  great  deal  of  fencing  required  for  lots,  gardens, 
orchards,  vineyards  and  pastures.  The  qualities  to  be  sought 
in  selecting  the  materials  for  hedges,  are  durability  or  lon 
gevity  in  growth  ;  facility  of  propagation  ;  a  tendency  to  grow 
near  the  ground  (as  a  shrub,  not  shedding  its  lower  limbs,  as  it  is 
the  nature  of  most  forest  trees  to  do) ;  and  the  production  of 
thorns  or  stubbed  branches.  These  requirements  are  met  with 
to  a  considerable  extent  in  the  largest  species  of  the  prickly 
pear  of  western  Texas,  which  will  grow  both  in  the  dry  and 
in  the  wet  portions  of  the  state,  is  easily  kept  from  spreading, 


NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH.  75 


Musquite — Sumac — Persimmon  Tree. 


is  little  or  no  expense  in  pruning,  is  adorned  in  spring  with  a 
flower,  and  bears  fruit  containing  much  saccharine  matter,  that 
may  be  made  useful,  and  upon  a  necessity  for  it,  it  may  be 
charred  in  the  fire  and  fed  to  oxen.  It  is  also  said  to  have  val 
uable  medicinal  properties.  It  may  be  too  slow  in  its  growth 
to  make  hedges  quickly.  Perhaps  the  most  useful  hedge 
growth  that  has  been  tried  in  Texas  is  the  Peracanthus.  It 
is  a  sort  of  dwarfish  hawthorn.  It  grows  as  a  shrub,  cluster 
ing  near  the  ground,  and  abounds  in  sharp  thorns.  It  is  easily 
trimmed  and  kept  in  proper  shape  and  size  for  a  hedge.  It 
is  also  quite  ornamental,  having  thick  green  foliage,  with 
blossoms  and  red  berries  at  the  proper  seasons.  There  is  a 
great  variety  of  scrubby  hawthorns  in  eastern  Texas,  and  of 
other  thorny  shrubs  in  western  Texas,  from  which  it  is  alto 
gether  probable  that  a  proper  selection  can  be  made,  when 
the  wants  of  the  country  shall  demand  sufficient  attention  to 
the  subject.  I  suggest  the  Agrita  for  a  trial. 

SUMAC  of  the  red  and  white  species  grows  abundantly; 
which,  besides  being  a  good  dye  in  its  berries,  fur 
nishes  leaves,  which,  when  dried  in  the  shade  and  mixed  with 
tobacco,  makes  the  famous  Kinikinick, — that  fuming  luxury 
of  the  American  Indian,  that  solaced  his  taciturnity  in  his 
forest  solitude.  It  is  very  pleasant  for  the  white  people  now, 
who  smoke  their  pipes. 

PERSIMMON  TREE. — This  tree  grows  abundantly  in  eastern, 
middle  and  southern  Texas.  It  seldom  grows  larger  than  an 
apple  tree,  though  much  taller.  It  bears  a  round,  red  fruit, 
larger  than  a  common  plum,  and  less  than  a  common  peach. 
It  ripens  just  before  frost  in  the  fall,  and  is  very  sweet.  It  bears 
well  when  grown  in  an  open  place,  especially  around  the  edge 
of  a  pond,  which  is  then  almost  certain  to  be  a  place  of  resort 
for  boys  in  the  day  time,  and  of  opossums  at  night.  It  makes 
a  fine  beer  which  retains  the  peculiar  taste  of  the  fruit.  The 
seeds  are  large  compared  to  the  size  of  the  fruit.  This  leads 
to  a  singular,  if  not  very  difficult,  inquiry.  If  an  old  bottom 
field,  rather  wet  for  cultivation,  is  thrown  out,  there  will,  in 
one  or  two  years,  come  up  all  over  it  millions  of  persimmon 
bushes.  The  same  thing  will  sometimes  occur  in  up-land 
fields  with  the  sassafras  whose  seeds  are  also  large.  The 


;6  NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH. 

Persimmon  Tree —  Papaw  Tree — Mast. 

qucere  is,  how  do  all  these  bushes  germinate  so  soon?  At  an 
early  day  in  Texas,  at  the  hospitable  mansion  of  a  Methodist 
preacher,  (Dr.  Ford,  of  Newton  county),  the  writer  heard  an 
interesting  discussion  on  this  subject  by  a  number  of  itinerant 
clergymen,  who  gave  their  various  observations  and  experi 
ences  upon  it,  in  the  different  countries  in  which  they  had 
traveled.  Besides  the  persimmon  and  sassafras,  one  told  of 
having  seen  a  spontaneous  growth  of  tobacco,  and  another  of 
poke-root,  and  another  of  something  else,  until  they  were 
brought  to  consider  the  text  of  Scripture :  "And  the  earth 
brought  forth  grass  and  herb,  yielding  seed  after  his  kind,  and 
the  tree  yielding  fruit,  whose  seed  was  in  itself,  after  his  kind." 
The  qii<zrey  notwithstanding,  still  exists. 

PAPAW  TREE. — The  papaw  is  a  small  tree  growing  in  the 
mellow,  sandy  soil  of  the  creek  bottoms  of  the  eastern  border 
of  Texas.  It  bears  a  large,  round,  long  fruit,  shaped  some 
thing  like  the  banana,  that  is  much  relished  by  children,  being 
very  sweet.  Its  wood,  when  dry,  is  very  light, — the  young 
trees  making  fine  how-helves,  simply  by  skinning  them,  which 
is  easily  done,  as  the  bark  peels  off  like  that  of  the  young 
hickory  in  the  spring.  The  fruit,  like  that  of  the  persimmon, 
has  a  large  seed  through  it,  which  would  render  it  easy  to  be 
propagated.  It  contains,  also,  like  that  of  the  persimmon, 
much  saccharine  matter,  will  make  good  beer  and  vinegar,  and 
when  distilled  a  most  palatable  liquor.  When  it  shall  be  as 
certained,  (and  fully  practiced  upon)  that  the  true  philosophy 
of  life  consists  in  moderation  in  the  use  of  all  the  good  and 
serviceable  things  of  earth,  enforced  by  moral  self-restraint, 
some  of  our  useless,  sandy  creek  and  river  bottoms  that  over 
flow,  may  be  cleared  up  and  planted  in  pappaw  and  persimmon 
trees,  as  well  as  pecan  trees,  that  will  bring  their  crops  of 
fruit  annually,  without  the  labor  and  expense  of  plowing, 
hoeing  and  fencing,  and  thereby,  and  by  some  such  means,  a 
large  amount  of  lands  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  may  be 
utilized,  that  can  never  be  cultivated  in  ordinary  crops. 

MAST. — We  have,  wherever  there  are  forests,  mast-bearing 
trees,  both  for  sweet,  and  for  bitter  mast ;  and  when  it  "hits," 
it  fattens  the  hogs,  and  brings  great  quantities  of  pigeons  and 
black-birds.  It  was  in  former  times  much  depended  on,  but 


NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH.  77 


Other  Trees,  Plants  and  Flowers — Cordage — Bear  Gra"ss. 


now  good  farmers  may  be  heard  to  say  that   "the   best   mast 
falls  in  the  crib." 

OTHER  TREES,  PLANTS  AND  FLOWERS. — There  are  in  Texas 
walnut,  cherry,  sweet-gum,  holly,  besides  pine,  suitable  for 
furniture ;  black-locusts,  mulberry,  cedar,  boxwood,  elm,  red- 
oak,  and  water-oak  for  shade,  ornament,  and  other  uses.     In 
deed  we  have  in  Texas  all  the  forest  trees   common  to  other 
states  of  the  south,  except  chestnut  and  poplar  trees,  which, 
as  a  native  growth,  are  not  to  be  found  in  Texas  at  all.     We 
have  plenty  of  Chinkapin  trees  in  eastern  Texas,  very  much 
resembling  chestnuts  trees  in  its  timbers  and  nuts,  though  it 
is  not  so  large  as  the  chestnut.     There  are  a  few  places  west 
of  the  Mississippi   River,  immediately  near  the  edge  of  its 
bottom,  where  the  poplar  tree  grows, — for  instance  on  Craw- 
ley's  ridge,  in  Arkansas,  on  Little  River,  on  a   ridge  in   the 
bottom   near  Evergreen,  and   on  the   Cortobla  Bayou    near 
Washington  in  -Louisiana.     It  is  believed  that  there  are  no 
wild  crab-apple  trees,  or  hazel-nut  trees  in  this  state.     There 
are  a  great  variety  of  wild  plums,  as  the  dwarf  or  hog  plum, 
the  common  wild  plum,  also  the  slough   plum ;   also   of  haw- 
trees,  black  and  red,  including  the  rare,  large,  red   may-haw, 
that  grows  in  ponds,  and  has  the  taste  of  the  apple ;  also  wild 
cherry,  and  the  honey-locust,  all  of  which  trees,  when  they 
grow  abundantly,  are  good  indications  for  orchard-fruits.     We 
have  also  wild  strawberries,  blackberries,  dewberries,  hurtle- 
berries,   wildcherries  and  mulberries.     Of  flowering  trees,  we 
have  the  magnificent  evergreen  magnolia,  whose  large  white 
flower  bursts  forth  amidst  its  sleek,  green  foliage  to  greet  the 
coming  summer  with  its  delightful  fragrance ;  the   dogwood, 
and  the  white  ash  relieve  the  dark  aspect  of  the  leafless  for 
est,  when  the  first  warmth  of  spring  clothes  them  with  robes 
of  white  flowers.     There  are  also  the  red  bud,  honey-suckle, 
elder,    haw,    plum,     black-locust,    mountain-ivy,    and    many 
other  flowering  shrubs  and  vines.     The  forests,  not  covered 
with  under-brush,  and  the  open  prairies  teem  with  a  rich  pro 
fusion  of  flowers,  of  every  imaginable  color,  during  most  of 
spring,  summer  and  fall,  some  of  which  would  be  considered 
rarely  beautiful,  if  cultivated  in  flower-gardens. 

CORDAQE — BEAR  GRASS. — Texas  has  had  use  for  a  great 


78  NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH. 

Medicinal  Trees,  Plants  and  Vines — Wood  Growing, 


many  ropes ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  she  will  not  need  so  many 
hereafter.  Bear  grass  grows  in  large  bunches,  and  looks 
something  like  a  coarse  grass.  It  is  usually  found  on  deep, 
sandy  ridges  or  flats.  Its  blades  have  a  long,  fine  fiber,  that 
would  make  the  best  of  ropes.  It  has  been  used  to  hang 
meat  and  is  very  strong. 

MEDICINAL  TREES,  PLANTS  AND  VINES. — We  have  a  large 
variety  of  trees,  shrubs,  plants  and  vines,  possessed  of  useful 
medicinal  properties,  as  button  willow,  dog-wood,  cherry, 
prickly-ash,  black-haw,  slippery-elm,  sassafras,  fever  or  flux- 
weed,  wild  camamile,  bone-sett,  sarsaparilla,  mullin,  yellow- 
dock,  jerusalem-oak,  polkberry,  Jamestown  weed,  rattle  snake's 
master,  may  apple,  and  others.  They  were  used  by  the  In 
dians,  and  by  the  early  settlers,  before  the  time  of  drug  stores, 
for  the  cure  of  the  prevalent  diseases  of  this  country,  for 
which  many  of  them  seem  to  be  pre-eminently  fitted ;  being 
one  of  the  innumerable  evidences  of  the  wisdom  and  good 
ness  of  the  Creator,  in  providing  antidotes  for  all  the  ills  to 
which  man  is  subject  from  the  natural  causes  surrounding  him, 
in  any  locality. 

WOOD  GROWING. — When  wood  growing  for  fuel,  and  other 
purposes,  shall  become  necessay  in  this  country,  the  natural 
growth  of  each  section  will  readily  point  out  to  the  careful 
and  intelligent  observer,  what  will  there  best  succeed.  In 
most  parts  of  Texas  the  China  tree,  the  Tree  of  Paradise,  the 
black-locust,  catalpa,  and  the  Bois  D'Arc,  will  be  found  use 
ful  from  their  rapid  growth,  and  facility  of  propagation.  The 
China  tree  has  many  other  useful  qualities.  Alive  or  dead 
it  makes  lasting  fencing-posts.  It  furnishes  a  dense  green 
shade  until  late  in  the  fall,  when  the  foliage  of  other  trees 
fade  and  become  thin.  W^hen  sawed,  it  makes  fine  furniture 
of  beautiful  color.  The  inside  bark  of  its  roots  make  a  good 
vermifuge.  Its  berries  contain  an  oil,  which,  when  mixed 
with  lamp-black,  makes  a  good,  shiny  blacking  for  shoes 
or  harness.  Its  leaves,  thrown  in  a  crib,  and  scattered  among 
the  corn  while  it  is  being  gathered,  is  a  preventive  against 
wevil.  And  last,  though  we  should  not  make  it  least,  it  is 
beautiful  to  look  upon,  especially  the  umbrella  china.  The 
China  and  the  black-locust,  the  catalpa  and  Bois  D'Arc,  may 


NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH.  79 


Wood  Growing. 


be  propagated  by  the  seed.  The  Tree  of  Paradise  will  readily 
spread  by  the  roots  over  an  old  field,  when  planted  there. 
The  China  tree  may  be  planted  on  the  fence- row  eight  feet 
apart  around  a  farm,  and  in  a  few  years  its  body  will  serve 
for  fence  posts,  and  being  kept  topped  twelve  or  fifteen  feet 
high,  its  limbs  will  furnish  fire-wood.  This  has  been  success 
fully  tried  in  Louisiana,  and  is  so  obviously  practicable,  that 
the  most  prudent  farmer  might  well  venture  to  try  the  experi 
ment  in  Texas. 

It  is  probable  that,  in  the  western  portion  of  Texas,  the 
native  musquite  tree  will  be  the  most  certain  growth  to  sup 
ply  wood,  and  it  also  can  be  propagated  by  the  seed.  The 
primitive  forest  of  a  country  is  w orthy  of  a  careful  study,  not 
only  for  the  useful  lessons  in  agriculture,  but  also  for  the  expan 
sive  conceptions,  and  delightful  sensations,  to  which  it  invites 
the  contemplative  mind ;  and  also  for  the  intrinsically  useful 
lessons  that  it  practically  teaches  to  the  careful  observer.  It 
has  every  diversity  of  color  and  shape,  with  its  forms  and 
brilliancy  so  mellowed  and  modified  as  to  be  pleasing  to  the 
eye,  and  gratifying  to  the  sense  of  the  beautiful.  It  lifts  itself 
upwards  from  its  mother  earth,  with  its  own  self-developing 
process,  by  the  tendency  of  the  life-sap  to  climb  to  the  top, 
and  the  consequent  shedding  of  the  lower  limbs, — each  tree 
in  its  growth,  accommodating  itself  to  its  surrounding  fellows, 
yet  each  struggling  for  self  elevation  and  expansion,  resulting 
all  together  in  the  presentation  of  one  grand  harmonious  com 
bination.  The  aged  patriarch  of  the  forest  is  seen  to  exhibit 
decay  at  the  top ;  the  sapling  near  by  vigorously  rises  up, 
sending  all  its  force  through  its  slender  form  to  the  aspiring 
top, — first,  to  reach  the  unimpeded  warmth  and  light,  that, 
when  reached,  will  then  surely  expand  its  growth,  to  supplant  its 
declining  seniors.  Two  trees,  standing  in  close  proximity,  by 
mutual  accommodation,  will  form  but  one  in  outline.  These 
analogies  to  human  life,  and  social  existence, — too  obvi'ous  to 
require  specification,  may  be  indefinitely  multiplied ;  and 
they  show  that  all  growth,  all  development,  all  animate  ag 
gregations  in  combination,  are  dependent  upon  general  laws 
of  universal  application. 

The  forest  indicates  the  general  character  of  the   climate, 


So  NATURAL  SOURCES  OF  WEALTH. 


Wood  Growing. 


and  of  the  soils.  It  shows  where  one  spot  is  too  wet,  or 
another  too  dry  for  cultivation,  and  it  gives  accurate  notice 
of  the  approach,  arrival  and  passage  of  the  seasons  of  the 
year.  It  will  tell  the  farmer  when  to  plant  his  crops,  and 
that,  too,  with  a  reasonable  certainty,  not  dependent  upon 
speculation  or  plausible  appearance.  Take,  for  instance,  a 
standard  growth,  (that  is,  in  eastern  Texas,  we  may  select  the 
red-oak  as  the  tree  commonly  growing  over  the  country,)  its 
budding  out  will  tell  when  to  plant  corn.  The  farmer  may 
be  misled,  by  a  few  days  of  open,  bright  weather,  to  suppose 
that  spring-time  has  come,  but  not  so  with  the  tree,  because 
it  is  moved  to  renewed  life,  and  action,  from  its  winter  bound 
dormancy,  by  the  general  average  warmth  pervading  the  at 
mosphere  and  the  earth.  Thus  it  is,  that  we  are  continually 
finding,  associated  together,  the  beautiful,  the  elevating,  and 
the  useful,  in  the  works  of  Nature. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

NATURAL  WEALTH  AS  FOUND  IN  ITS  WATERS. 


The  natural  wealth  of  Texas,  as  found  in  its  waters.  For  common  use— their 
quality  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  Mineral  waters  of  medicinal  vir 
tues.  The  sour  lake,  and  Lampassas  springs,  &c.  Salines  in  the  east  and 
in  the  west.  Water  power —  very  great  in  the  west  and  some  in  the  east. 
For  navigation — extent  and  character  of.  Coast  canal — its  advantages  and 
practicability.  For  fish,  oysters,  &c.,  very  good. 

"Wild  game.  Buffalo  and  Elk  disappeared.  Deer,  Turkeys,  Prairie  hens,  Par 
tridges,  &c.,  Bears,  Panthers,  Wolves,  &c.,  determine  the  natural  fertility  of  a 
country — the  reason.  Other  animals,  and  some  beautiful  birds. 

Atmospheric  benefits — in  wind  power,  in  health,  in  production  of  crops,  and  in 
increased  capacity  to  labor  physically  and  intellectually. 

Canes  and  reeds,  as  food  for  stock  and  for  market  particularly  in  the  south  and 
east. 

Grasses.  For  natural  pastures.  The  musquite  grass  in  the  west ;  the  milo  grass 
in  the  east,  and  others.  Why  pasturage  is  so  beneficial  to  a  country,  how  it 
may  be  secured,  and  the  immense  profit  it  is  and  has  been  to  western  Texas. 
The  reason  why  dry  countries  are  the  best  for  grazing. 


There  is  still  a  variety  of  other  things  pertaining  to  the 
natural  qualities  and  resources  of  Texas  that  deserve  some 
further  notice — consisting  of  its  waters,  for  common  use,  for 
medicinal  virtues,  for  making  salt,  for  mechanical  force,  for 
navigation  and  for  raising  fish.  And  in  the  same  connection 
some  attention  may  be  given  to  its  atmospheric  benefits,  its 
native  quadrupeds,  birds,  its  canes  and  reeds,  grasses  and 
pests. 

WATER  FOR  COMMON  USE. 

As  a  natural  consequence  of  the  prevailing  rocks,  earth 
and  soil,  the  water  of  both  springs  and  wells  in  the  two 
great  divisions  of  the  state,  is  for  the  most  part  very  different, 
— that  in  the  east  being  mostly  freestone,  and  that  in  the 
west,  limestone. 

In  eastern  Texas  there  are  numerous  springs,  from  the  fact 
that  the  pulverization  capacity  of  the  earth,  of  both  soil  and 
sub-soil,  being  of  a  high  order  of  excellence,  the  rain  that 
6  81 


82  WEALTH  AS  FOUND  IN  ITS  WATERS. 

Water  for  common  use. 

falls  abundantly  in  the  winter  and  spring  can  sink,  so  as  to 
furnish  an  ample  supply  of  water  for  the  springs  and  wells 
during  the  whole  year.  The  spring  water  generally  is  warmer 
than  that  of  the  wells,  and  is  regarded  as  not  so  heathful. 
Neither  can  it  be  said  to  be  very  cold  in  summer.  Much  of  it, 
particularly  that  of  the  wells,  that  are  usually  from  twenty  to 
thirty  feet  deep,  is  cool  and  palatable.  Some  of  it  is  very 
pure  and  "soft,"  as  indicated  by  its  washing  well.  In  some 
places  it  is  "hard,"  and  is  tinctured  more  or  less  with  some 
mineral  taste,  partaking  of  the  earth  where  it  is  situated.  In 
the  main,  however,  eastern  Texas  is  a  well  watered  country, 
it  being  practicable  to  dig  wells  in  all  parts  of  it  where  there 
are  no  springs  to  be  used.  In  some  portions  of  it,  in  the  line 
of  the  "black-jack  belt,"  there  are  wells  of  strong  alum  water, 
as  in  Houston,  Smith,  Upshur,  and  perhaps  in  other  counties. 
In  the  eastern  and  southern  portions  of  the  prairies  of  north 
ern,  middle  and  southern  Texas,  including  the  "black,  limy 
belt,"  there  are  but  few  springs.  The  soil  generally  being  of 
a  firm,  compact  nature,  composed  more  or  less  of  limy  ma 
terials,  the  rain-water  cannot  sink  so  deeply  as  it  does  in  the 
timbered  sections  of  the  east,  but  either  runs  off,  or  is  evap 
orated  by  the  winds  that  almost  continually  fan  the  surface  of 
the  earth  ;  and,  therefore,  that  whole  region  is  scarce  of  water, 
which  induces  a  resort  to  wells,  cisterns  and  tanks.  Some  of 
the  well  water  is  good  ;  most  of  it,  however,  like  that  of  the 
springs  there,  is  too  much  affected  by  the  limy  earth;  and 
some  of  the  wells,  in  certain  places,  where  gypsum  or  any 
other  mineral  substances  are  intermixed  with  the  lime,  furnish 
water  that  tastes  (as  well  as  I  can  imagine)  very  much  as  if 
the  contents  of  an  apothecary  shop  had  been  emptied  into  it, 
as  was  the  case  with  the  artesian  well  at  Austin  also.  Leav 
ing  that  region  and  approaching  the  mountains,  there  are 
some  very  large,  bold  running  springs  of  pure  lime  water, 
that  evidently  come  from  some  distant  source,  somewhat  on 
the  principle  of  the  artesian  well,  whose  water  flows  out  of  the 
top  of  the  well.  Amongst  them  may  be  mentioned  the  bluff 
spring  at  Waco,  on  the  Brazos,  the  spring  at  Salado,  the 
Barton  springs  near  Austin,  the  San  Marcus  spring,  and  the 
spring  near  San  Antonio.  Most  of  the  country,  however, 


WEALTH  AS  FOUND  IN  ITS  WATERS.          83 


Mineral  Waters  of  Medicinal  Virtues. 


above  the  lower  edge  of  the  mountains  and  cross-timbers, 
and  south  and  south-west  of  San  Antonio,  there  is  a  scarcity 
of  water.  High  up  on  some  of  the  branches  of  the  Red 
River  and  Brazos,  that  come  from  the  gypsum  bed  of  that 
region,  it  is  said  to  be  disagreeably  bitter,  or  brackishly  bitter. 
Through  all  that  high  plain  region  there  are  springs  and 
ponds,  as  indicated  on  our  maps,  and  the  more  the  country 
is  explored  the  more  good  water  has  been  found.  It  is  now 
believed,  also,  that  water  can  be  got  by  digging  shallow  wells 
in  most  of  that  country. 


MINERAL  WATERS  OF  MEDICINAL  VIRTUES. 

There  are  chalybeate  springs  in  most  parts  of  eastern 
Texas.  There  are  sulphur  springs  in  Lampassas,  Grimes, 
Sabine,  Smith,  Upshur,  Rusk  and  Cass  counties,  and  perhaps 
in  many  other  counties  of  Texas.  There  is  the  Sour  Lake 
in  Hardin,  and  the  sour  spring  in  Sabine  county,  and  a  sour 
well  in  Caldwell  county,  south  of  Austin. 

The  sour  lake  is  situated  on  the  level  gulf  prairie,  be 
tween  the  Neches  and  Trinity  Rivers,  and  its  waters  are  re 
garded  to  be  highly  remedial  in  cutaneous  diseases,  chronic 
sores,  and  the  like.  It  has  been  a  place  of  considerable  resort 
for  a  number  of  years  past  in  the  summer  season.  The  Lam 
passas  springs,  situated  about  seventy-five  or  eighty  miles 
northwardly  from  Austin,  and  about  the  same  distance  west- 
wardly  from  Waco,  is  perhaps  the  largest  body  of  sulphur 
water  in  the  United  States,  and  is  said  to  be  of  good  quality. 
Located  in  an  elevated  region  of  high  hills  and  plains,  and 
beautiful  v,alleys,  distant  from  any  large  water  courses,  and 
free  from  all  miasmatic  influences,  with  a  free  circulation 
of  pure,  dry  atmosphere,  it  must  in  time  become  one 
of  the  most  celebrated  watering  places  on  this  continent. 
It,  with  its  surroundings,  is  particularly  adapted  to  the 
wants  of  the  careworn  and  debilitated  merchant,  and 
professional  man  of  our  southern  coast  cities,  who  will 
be  almost  certain  to  be  rejuvenated  by  a  season  spent  at  the 
Lampassas  springs.  Nor  will  it  be  any  the  less  beneficial  to 
our  ladies  of  the  south,  whose  constitutions  have  been  ener- 


84         WEALTH  AS  FOUND  IN  ITS  WATERS. 


Saline  Waters — Water  Power. 


vated  by  their  cares  or  pleasures,  or  by  the  too  frequent  habit 
of  spending  their  whole  lives  in  one  locality.  It  has  long- 
been  resorted  to  by  invalids  to  some  extent,  almost  every 
summer,  though  not  as  it  deserves  to  be,  for  it  is  destined  to 
become  a  fashionable  resort. 

SALINE  WATERS. 

There  are  quite  a  number  of  salines  in  eastern  Texas.  The 
Grand  Saline,  or  as  it  has  formerly  been  called,  Jordan's  Saline, 
in  Van  Zandt  county,  Steene  Saline  in  the  northern  part  of 
Smith  county,  Neches  Saline  near  the  Neches  River,  near 
the  line  between  Cherokee  and  Smith  counties,  and  the  An 
gelina  Saline,  in  the  southern  part  of  Nacogdoches.  They  have 
all  been  worked,  and  the  Grand  Saline  is  still  in  operation. 
It  is  a  flat,  level  basin,  about  a  mile  square,  and  shallow  wells 
can  be  sunk  in  almost  any  part  of  it  that  furnishes  salt  water, 
and  some  of  them  are  very  strongly  impregnated  with  salt. 
During  the  late  war  there  were  thirty  or  forty  furnaces  in  full 
blast  upon  this  saline  ;  and  furnished  salt  for  a  large  section  of 
the  state.  There  are  some  ponds  or  lakes  in  south-western 
Texas,  on  or  near  the  coast,  which  have  been  resorted  to  for 
salt  from  the  earliest  times  in  the  settlement  of  Texas.  The 
salt  is  deposited  in  them  by  evaporation,  and  when  they  dry 
up  on  the  edges  the  salt  is  dug  up  from  the  bed  of  the  lakes. 
There  are  also  other  salines  in  the  up-country  of  western 
Texas  which,  however,  have  not  as  yet  attracted  much  atten 
tion. 

WATER  POWER. 

In  western  Texas  the  streams  that  run  out  of  the  moun 
tains,  and  some  of  them  that  burst  out  at  or  near  the  foot  of 
the  mountains,  furnish,  as  it  is  believed,  a  large  amount  of 
water  power  that  could  be  easily  brought  into  operation. 
Factories  established  there  would  have  the  great  advantage  of 
being  in  close  proximity  to  the  cotton,  wool,  and  cheap  pro 
visions,  and  in  a  mild,  dry,  healthful  climate  where  operatives 
could  work  with  comfort  every  day  in  the  year,  and  without 
the  expense  of  fire,  except  a  short  time  at  intervals  during 
winter.  In  south-eastern  Texas,  in  the  counties  of  Newton,  Jas 
per,  Tyler,  and  also  in  others  in  the  same  section,  there  are  never 
failing  streams,  some  of  them  large,  bold  creeks,  that  would 


WEALTH  AS  FOUND  IN  ITS  WATERS.          85 

Water  Power — Water  for  Navigation. 

furnish  a  great  deal  of  water  power,  in  the  midst  of  a  cotton 
country,  in  which,  also,  at  present  there  is  a  great  deal  of  pine 
timber  that  could  be  sawed  by  them.  There  is  water  power 
now  being  used  for  "over-shot"  mills  and  gins,  on  both  sides 
of  the  Sabine  River,  in  the  counties  of  Smith,  Rusk,  Upshur, 
and  Harrison.  Indeed  there  can  be  water  mills  erected  in 
most  parts  of  the  timbered  portions  of  eastern  Texas,  and  in 
early  times  most  of  the  meal  used  in  families  was  ground  on 
them.  The  introduction  of  steam  mills,  of  late  years,  has 
prevented  their  erection  in  many  places  where  they  could  be 
erected.  Water  power  for  machinery,  when  it  can  be  controlled 
properly,  is  by  far  the  cheapest  of  any  kind,  and  that  which 
we  have  in  Texas  is  (much  of  it)  so  fine,  and  connected  with 
such  extraneous  advantages,  that  it  must,  before  long,  begin 
to  be  appreciated  as  very  valuable  to  the  country. 

WATER  FOR   NAVIGATION. 

Nearly  all  of  our  rivers,  from  the  Sabine  to  the  Rio  Grande, 
are  generally  navigable  for  steamboats  during  about  half  the 
year,  for  a  distance  above  their  mouths, — some  of  them  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  by  land.  There  have  been  from  time 
to  time  efforts  made  by  the  state  to  improve  their  navigation, 
mainly  by  having  the  over-hanging  trees  cut.  Two  reasons 
may  be  assigned  why  these  rivers  have  never  been  as  bene 
ficial  to  commerce,  nor  as  much  used,  as  rivers  of  the  same 
size  in  other  countries.  The  first  is,  that  usually  their  lowest 
stage  of  water  is  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  often  continuing  up 
to  Christmas  or  longer,  during  which  time  cotton  farmers  get 
their  cotton  crop  out,  and  desire  to  send  it  to  market,  or,  if 
they  sell  it  at  home,  country  merchants  cannot  well  delay  the 
sending  of  it  off  to  market.  Secondly,  that  the  ports,  at  the 
mouths  of  the  rivers,  are  not  generally  such  as  would  readily 
encourage  the  building  of  towns,  or  cities,  of  a  size  to  become 
markets  for  the  produce  of  the  country.  Galveston  is,  as 
yet,  the  only  city  upon  our  coast  that  can  aspire  to  the  posi 
tion  of  a  market,  from  which  cotton  is  shipped  to  foreign 
ports  direct.  As  the  state  becomes  more  densely  settled, 
adjoining  to  those  navigable  rivers,  the  cheapness  of 
water-transportation  will  certainly  cause  them  to  be  used  to 
much  greater  benefit  than  they  have  been. 


86          WEALTH  AS  FOUND  IN  ITS  WATERS. 


Coast  Canal — Waters  for  Raising  Fish. 


COAST   CANAL. 

The  line  of  bays  upon  our  coast  could  easily  be  connected 
by  canals,  so  as  to  have  an  inland  channel  of  navigation  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande  to  that  of  the  Sabine ;  which, 
indeed,  might  be  extended  to  New  Orleans  and  Mobile,  and 
perhaps  further.  The  saving  in  the  diminished  loss  of  coast 
ing  vessels,  and  in  insurance,  apart  from  the  great  advantage 
{n  time  of  war,  would  certainly  be  a  large  item  in  the  com 
merce  of  this  state.  This  project  of  an  inland  channel  of  navi 
gation  upon  our  coast  has  long  been  spoken  of  in  Texas  as 
desirable  and  practicable,  but  too  large  to  be  undertaken  by 
Texas.  The  subject  has  lately  been  favorably  presented  to 
the  congress  of  the  United  States,  as  one  of  national  im 
portance,  and  we  may  hope  that  it  will  be  so  deemed,  when 
Texas  has  ceased  to  be  a  far-off-country,  in  a  few  years  to 
come. 

WATERS  FOR  RAISING  FISH. 

In  the  beautiful,  clear  creeks  and  other  streams  of  the  west, 
there  are  very  fine  fish,  consisting  of  trout,  blue  cat,  Gasper- 
gew,  and  others.  In  the  more  sluggish  streams  of  the  east, 
there  are  the  buffalo,  yellow  and  blue  cat,  trout,  sucker,  and 
perch ;  and,  perhaps,  the  finest  of  all  of  them  is  the  large 
white  perch.  Fishes  are  more  abundant  in  the  rivers,  and  in 
the  creeks  near  the  rivers,  as  you  go  downwards  from  their 
heads  towards  the  coast.  It  may  be  worthy  of  notice  that 
during  the  summer  of  the  year  1874  the  agent  for  that  ser 
vice  in  the  government  of  the  United  States,  has  deposited 
in  Jthe  Brazos  and  Colorado  Rivers,  a  large  number  of  small 
shad-fish.  Fishy  importations  into  Texas  have  not  hereto 
fore  been  thought  to  be  beneficial,  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
this  one  of  real  shad-fish  will  be  more  so.  It  is  worthy  of 
remark,  that  there  is  something  in  the  soil,  climate,  and,  it 
may  be  in  the  waters,  too,  of  Texas,  that  exotics  of  any  kind, 
imported  into  this  country  from  a  distance  require  a  good, 
long  acclimation  before  they  succeed  well,  and  many,  even 
after  that  ordeal,  entirely  fail. 

On  our  coast,  we  have  turtles,  oysters,  crabs,  lobsters,  the 
red  fish,  flounders,  and  others,  pronounced  to  be  of  good 
quality  by  those  who  are  skilled  in  a  knowledge  of  that  sort 


WEALTH  AS  FOUND  IN  ITS  WATERS.  87 


Water  for  Raising  Fish  —  Wild  Game. 


of  diet.  Occasionally  a  Jew-fish,  weighing  several  hundred 
pounds,  becomes  stranded  on  the  coast,  and  is  taken  by  the 
fishermen,  who  sell  it  at  a  high  price,  as  a  great  delicacy,  as 
we  learn  from  the  newspapers  that  are  almost  certain  to  pub 
lish  such  an  event. 

Now,  as  fish  diet  is  said,  according  to  scientific  investiga 
tions,  to  have  been  found  to  be  one  of  the  best  foods  for  de 
veloping  the  brain,  and  consequently  for  fostering  intellectual 
power,  it  might  be  well,  on  that  account,  as  well  as  on  account 
of  the  cheapness  of  raising  or  amusement  in  catching  fish,  to 
pay  more  attention  to  the  subject  than  has  heretofore  been 
given  to  it  in  Texas.  Dr.  Franklin  said,  that  the  best  hook  to 
fish  with  was  a  silver  hook.  Patrick  Henry,  it  seems,  did  not 
think  so.  However  that  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  most  people 
like  to  eat  fish,  and  that  there  is  a  reasonably  good  supply  of 
them  to  be  obtained  in  most  of  the  settled  portions  of  Texas. 
The  Texas  Legislature  at  the  session  of  1874  exhibited 
their  due  appreciation  of  this  subject  by  the  passage  of  a  law 
to  prevent  the  catching  of  fish,  so  as  to  retard  their  increase. 
Now  we  have  a  fish  commissioner. 

WILD  GAME. 

In  common  with  other  states,  east  and  north  of  Texas,  the 
Elk  and  the  Bison,  commonly  called,  "Buffalo,"  roamed  over 
our  forests  and  prairies  formerly ;  but  they  have  long  since 
disappeared  from  the  portions  of  the  country  which  are  set 
tled.  The  deer  is  our  largest  game,  and  is  still  plentiful  in 
eastern  Texas  and  in  some  parts  of  the  west.  There  are 
three  modes  of  killing  them,  that  have  prevailed ;  one  by  fire- 
hunting  in  the  dark  nights,  by  shining  their  eyes,  which  was 
in  early  times  much  resorted  to  as  a  means  of  securing  veni 
son  for  food,  and  the  hides  for  market.  Another  mode  is  that 
of  still  hunting  by  persons  singly,  which  is  the  old  Indian 
mode,  the  success  of  which  depends  much  upon  a  stealthy 
step  and  a  quick  eye.  White  men  have  hardly  ever  reached 
the  proficiency  of  the  Indian  in  this ;  for  the  Indian  does  not 
load  his  gun  until  he  sees  the  deer,  and  then  practices  his 
arts  as  a  business,  and  not  as  a  pastime,  until  he  kills  the 
game.  The  other  mode  is  that  of  driving  with  hounds  and 
horns ;  which  mode  is  an  English  importation,  in  which  usu- 


88          WEALTH  AS  FOUND  IN  ITS  WATERS. 

Wild  Game. 

ally  a  number  of  persons  engage  by  taking  stands  at  differ 
ent  places,  where  it  is  supposed  the  deer  will  run  in  the  drive. 
It  is  a  very  exciting  amusement,  and  is  much  practiced  in  the 
spring  and  summer,  particularly  in  the  timbered  portions  of 
Texas.  When  the  deer  get  scarce  in  one  section,  the  old 
hunters  often  get  up  a  party  of  hunters,  and  go  off  a  day's 
ride  or  further,  and  have  what  is  called  a  camp-hunt  for  a 
week  or  more.  Now  that  we  have  railroads,  we  may  expect 
hunters  from  the  older  states  to  make  raids  upon  our  deer,  and 
other  game  ;  and  therefore  it  might  be  well  to  protect  them, 
as  well  as  the  fish,  during  time  of  raising,  if  we  desire  to  pre 
serve  the  wild  game  of  the  state  from  extermination. 

We  have  also  turkeys,  that  are  hunted  at  the  break  01  day, 
in  the  early  spring,  which  is  the  gobbling  season.  We  have 
also  partridges  that  raise  about  the  farms,  and  are  caught  in 
nets.  In  the  prairies  we  have  also  the  prairie-hen,  which  is 
very  similar  to  the  partridge,  except  that  it  is  in  size  about 
halfway  between  a  partridge  and  a  tame  guinea.  Geese,  brant, 
and  ducks  are  abundant  on  our  rivers,  and  near  the  coast  in 
winter,  and  often  wild  geese  may  be  seen  in  the  green  wheat 
fields  in  our  prairies  during  the  winter.  Wild  pigeons  and 
black-birds,  in  large  numbers,  visit  us  in  the  fall  and  winter, 
wherever  they  can  find  acorns.  The  wild  pigeons  establish  a 
roost  to  which  they  return  at  night,  after  having  gone  during 
the  day  a  great  distance  in  search  of  food.  They  continue 
to  come  long  after  dark,  and  crowd  one  upon  another  on  the 
limbs  of  trees  and  bushes,  so  as  to  bend  and  even  break  them 
down ;  keeping  up  a  noise  all  the  time  that  makes  the  woods 
roar.  Persons  go  with  torches  and  sticks  and  kill  as  many  as 
they  want.  In  former  times  there  were  pigeon  roosts  in  the 
pine  woods  in  the  western  part  of  Upshur  county,  and  near 
the  line  between  Shelby  and  San  Augustine  counties. 

We  have  a  great  many  beautiful  birds  that  make  our  for 
ests  and  groves  resonant  with  their  music  at  certain  seasons 
of  the  year,  both  day  and  night,  particularly  in  the  spring. 
Out  of  a  great  many  that  would  interest  the  ornithologist, 
only  four  will  be  mentioned.  The  mocking  bird,  like  the  bee, 
follows  civilization  westward,  and  actually  seems  to  await  the 
opening  of  large  farms,  and  the  erection  of  good  painted 


WEALTH  AS  FOUND  IN  ITS  WATERS.  89 


Wild  Game. 


houses,  before  they  inhabit  the  country.  The  long-forked- 
tail  bird  of  Paradise,  (as  it  is  called,)  of  the  prairies,  though 
not  noted  for  singing,  has  a  most  varied  and  delicately  beauti 
ful  plumage.  Also  the  Chaperal  cock  of  the  west  is  a  beau 
tiful  bird.  It  is  very  wild,  and  inclines  to  run  off  like  a  turkey, 
rather  than  fly,  in  escaping  from  your  presence.  The  Parra- 
keet  of  south-eastern  Texas  gives  a  harsh,  grating  squall  in 
its  rapid  flight,  always  seen  in  small  numbers,  but  never  singly, 
dashing  through  and  around  the  tops  of  the  trees,  is  also  a 
bird  of  beautiful  colors  of  green  and  yellow  or  pale  red. 

Cities  and  towns  on  the  gulf  are  well  supplied  with  water 
fowls  in  the  market,  those  not  having  a  fishy  taste  being  dis 
tinguished  by  their  not  having  black  legs.  It  is  much  more 
agreeable  to  eat  bird  and  fish  separately ;  so  it  is  turkey  and 
wild  onions.  In  parts  of  eastern  Texas,  beef  and  milk  are 
both  rendered  unfit  for  use  by  the  weed,  as  it  is  called,  being, 
as  it  is  supposed,  something  that  cattle  eat,  but  which  has 
never  yet  been  certainly  ascertained.  The  taste  of  the  milk 
that  has  the  weed  is  not  describable,  because  it  is  like  noth 
ing  else  to  compare  it  with.  It  is  simply  bad ;  and  so  bad 
that  the  milk  cannot  be  well  used.  It  can  be  disguised  by 
eating  onions  before  drinking  it.  It  is  not  known  to  be  un- 
healthful  when  used.  As  to  what  it  is,  has  long  been  and 
still  is  a  mystery.  We  have  bears,  wolves,  coons,  opos 
sums,  squirrels,  rabbits,  foxes  and  peccaries  or  wild  Mexican 
hogs,  The  hunting  of  the  wild  boar,  so  famous  a  sport 
in  ancient  times,  and  even  yet  in  parts  of  Asia,  was 
never  very  fascineting  to  Texans.  These  little  hogs 
are  very  fierce,  and  when  rallied  pour  out  in  a  swarm 
from  their  dens  often  of  large,  hollow  logs,  and  climbing  a  tree 
just  then  is  a  much  better  defence  than  spears,  guns  or  dogs. 
It  is  something  like  fighting  hornets,  in  which  bravery  is  at  a 
great  disadvantage,  and  never  wins  laurels.  Bears  are  fast 
disappearing  as  the  cattle  eat  up  the  cane-brakes  that  they 
inhabit,  to  the  great  discontent  of  a  few  old  remaining 
bear  hunters,  who  now  are  left  to  fight  their  cane-brake  bat 
tles  over  at  their  chimney  corners,  to  the  shuddering  astonish 
ment  of  younger  folks.  Fox-hunting,  so  inspiring  in  the  old 


90         WEALTH  AS  FOUND  IN  ITS  WATERS. 

Wild  Game — Atmosphere. 

countries,  never  took  hold  of  the  fancy  of  the  youths  of 
Texas  to  any  great  extent.  Why  should  it  ?  To  follow  that 
one  must  get  up  of  a  cold,  frosty  morning,  two  hours  before 
daylight,  mount  a  restless  horse,  blow  a  horn  around  through 
the  woods,  and  if  the  hounds  should  make  a  start,  and  open 
out  on  trail,  tear  head-long  through  thickets  and  thorns, 
round  and  round,  half  frozen,  lashed  by  the  bushes  and  at 
last  be  held  by  others  at  a  discount  for  not  being  up  at  the 
fight  and  death,  five  miles  off,  at  sun  up.  Why  not  rather,  in 
the  pleasant  part  of  the  day,  chase  and  larriat  cattle  and 
horses  upon  the  open  plain,  for  some  useful  purpose, — inter 
mixing  exhilarating  exercise  with  practical  business.  Or 
if  what  is  considered  more  genteel  amusement  be  sought, 
there  is  the  mule-eared  rabbit  of  our  prairies,  that,  with  a 
pack  of  grey  hounds  after  him,  is  so  fleet  as  to  fill  the  full 
measure  of  the  idea,  as  commonly  expressed,  "of  running 
like  a  blue  streak."  This  may  be  said  to  be  the  chief  horse 
back  sport  in  western  and  northern  Texas,  in  which  many 
of  our  ladies  as  well  as  gentlemen  delight  to  engage,  as 
driving  for  deer  is,  as  followed  by  the  gentlemen  in  the  east. 

Attention  is  called  to  the  great  abundance  of  fishes,  fowls, 
and  quadrupeds  both  carniverous  and  herbiverous,  in  part,  to 
illustrate  more  fully  the  fact  of  the  prolific  fruitfulness  of  the 
natural  productions  of  this  country.  Wolves,  panthers,  bears, 
cats  and  foxes  do  not  live  on  air,  nor  can  they  live  long  in  a 
barren  desert.  Their  abundance  or  scarcity  in  any  unsettled 
country  is  a  correct  index  to  its  natural  productiveness ;  sim 
ply  because  their  subsistence  depends  upon  the  number  of 
herbiverous  animals,  that  can  subsist  during  all  seasons  of  the 
year. 

ATMOSPHERE. 

This  may  seem,  to  those  who  have  not  closely  examined 
the  subject,  to  be  a  strange  item,  in  recounting  the  natural 
advantages  of  a  country.  Nevertheless  it  is  true,  that  it  has  a 
positive  value  in  Texas,  not  only  as  a  power  to  be  profitably 
used  in  machinery,  but  also  in  the  personal  comfort,  health, 
and  vigor  of  its  inhabitants,  in  their  power  of  protracting 
labor,  either  physical  or  intellectual,  and  even  in  the  increased 
production  of  crops.  This  great  advantage  pertains  peculiar- 


WEALTH— SOURCES  OF.  91 

Atmosphere. 

ly  to  the  prairie  section,  increasing  in  some  of  its  beneficial 
effects,  as  in  going  north-west,  the  country  gets  higher  and 
dryer. 

Under  the  influence  of  the  healthful,  dry  atmosphere  of 
the  high  plains,  interspersed  with  rich  valleys  in  all  that  part 
of  Texas,  reaching  far  above  the  lower  edge  of  the  moun 
tains,  and  cross-timbers,  a  vigorous  race  of  men  will  be  reared, 
who  will  some  day  largely  control  the  destinies  of  this  great 
state,  and  who,  in  their  power,  mental  as  well  as  physical, 
will  demonstrate  the  fact,  that  a  nation's  wealth  consists  in  the 
quality  of  men  and  women  reared  in  it,  as  well  as  in  the  qual 
ity  of  its  crops  in  agriculture.  Suppose  a  factory  should  be 
erected  upon  any  of  the  western  streams  that  pour  down  from, 
or  burst  out  of,  the  mountains,  laborers  in  them,  under  the 
influence  of  the  almost  constant  flow  of  pure,  dry  atmosphere, 
can  labor  with  comfort  from  one  to  two  hours  in  the  day 
longer  than  they  can  east  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

In  intellectual  labor  the  same  benefit  is  readily  appreciated. 
There  is  a  marked  difference  in  that  respect,  even  between 
western  and  eastern  Texas,  off  of  the  coast  some  distance. 
Leibeg,  who  is  perhaps  the  highest  authority  in  the  science  of 
agricultural  chemistry,  informs  us  that  a  very  large  propor 
tion  of  all  cultivated  plants  are  built  up  by  nutrition  furnished 
by  the  instrumentality  of  the  atmosphere.  This  principle  is 
plainly  illustrated  in  Texas,  by  the  wild  growth,  as  in  the  large 
cactus  of  the  west.  And  it  is  on  this  principle,  in  part,  that 
the  very  best  wheat  grown  in  Texas  is  upon  the  high,  fertile 
ridges  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state,  where  the  wind  sweeps 
over  the  growing  grain  in  spring  and  early  summer  every  day, 
relieving  the  soil  from  excessive  moisture,  which  may  then 
prevail,  feeding  the  wheat  in  its  passage,  and  stimulating  the 
growth  of  the  stalk  and  ear  by  the  constant  waving  motion, 
which  makes  it  so  beautiful.  And  hence,  exactly  the  same 
black,  limy  prairie  soil,  to  be  found  in  spots,  and  even  in 
whole  neighborhoods,  (growing  less  as  you  go  east,)  in  Wash 
ington,  Grimes,  Walker,  Polk  and  Tyler  counties,  and  where 
there  is  more  timber,  and  a  lower  and  more  level  surface,  will 
not  produce  the  same  quantity  of  grain,  perhaps  on  an  average, 
by  one-half.  And,  hence,  the  stagnation  in  the  atmosphere, 


92  WEALTH— SOURCES  OF. 

Atmosphere. 

by  one-half.  And,  hence,  the  stagnation  in  the  atmosphere, 
produced  by  a  dense  forest  immediately  north  of  a  field,  in 
jures  corn  as  much  or  more  than  the  shade  on  the  east  or  west 
side  of  it.  And,  hence,  the  great  advantage  that  our  farmers 
are  well  known  to  derive  by  planting  their  crops  with  good 
distance  in  the  rows,  by  which  the  air  has  a  free  circulation 
between  them.  For  this  reason  the  rows  should  be  planted 
wide  as  nearly  in  the  direction  of  our  spring  and  summer 
winds,  (north  and  south,)  as  convenient.  For  a  fuller  appre 
ciation  of  this  benefit  it  may  be  added,  that  the  rapidity  in 
the  circulation  of  atmosphere  presses  much  more  of  it  into 
the  soil  than  if  it  were  stagnant  or  sluggish,  and  by  that 
means  a  more  constant  and  abundant  material  is  added  to  the 
soil,  for  the  promotion  of  the  necessary  chemical  action  within 
it.  This  benefit,  thus  derived,  may  be  redoubled,  as  experi 
ence  verifies,  by  very  deep  plowing  in  the  preparation  of  land 
for  a  crop,  so  as  to  permit  the  atmosphere  the  more  deeply  to 
penetrate  the  soil.  It  is  important  to  be  understood,  that 
during  most  of  the  year  the  atmosphere  flows  over  the  sur 
face  of  the  earth  from  south  to  north ;  not  only  to  render 
available  some  of  the  benefits  heretofore  indicated,  but  also . 
to  avoid  some  of  the  disadvantages  that  may  result  from  it. 
It  is  for  that  reason,  that  in  selecting  a  location  for  a  residence 
the  north  or  north-cast  side  of  a  river  or  creek  bottom,  or  of 
a  marsh  of  any  sort,  should  be  avoided  ;  and  preference  should 
be  given  to  the  south  side  of  a  farm,  rather  than  to  the  nortlj 
side.  Very  high  points  of  land  have  not  proved  to  be  very 
healthful,  especially  those  that  overlook  large  bottoms.  Resi 
dences  upon  deep,  sandy  soils,  as  are  often  found  in  sand- 
flats,  and  in  the  pine  woods,  are  generally  not  so  healthful  as 
those  situated  upon  hard  soil,  or  upon  gravelly  land.  Resi 
dences  should  be  generally  constructed,  in  this  state,  so  as  to 
procure  good  ventilation  from  the  south  winds  of  summer, 
and  to  guard  against  the  cold  north  winds  of  winter.  A  house, 
for  a  residence,  should  be  placed  on  blocks  or  pillars  not  less 
than  three  feet  high,  so  as  to  give  a  free  circulation  of  the  air 
under  it.  Houses  placed  near  the  ground  almost  invariably 
generate  sickness,  very  often  such  as  typhoid  fever,  especially 
where  there  is  a  damp  surface. 


WEALTH— SOURCES  OF. 93 

Cane  and  Reeds — Grasses. 

CANE  AND  REEDS. 

Forty  years  ago  the  river,  creek,  and  even  branch  bottoms, 
in  southern  and  eastern  Texas,  were  overgrown  with  cane- 
brakes,  or  reed-brakes,  the  latter  often  covering  the  adjoining 
slopes  of  the  ridges.  They  constituted  largely,  in  the  first  set 
tlement  of  those  portions,  the  food  for  herds  of  horses  and 
cattle  during  the  winter  and  early  spring.  The  stock  has 
gradually  destroyed  them,  except  in  those  portions  of  the 
country  where  there  have  been  but  few  settlers.  A  somewhat 
singular  incident  connected  with  their  decline  was,  that  when 
they  bore  seed  they  died,  and  often  their  places  were  occu 
pied  afterwards  by  a  growth  of  bushes.  Occasionally  tracts 
of  them  have  been  fenced,  so  as  to  keep  stock  out  during  the 
growing  season,  by  which  they  have  been  preserved  as  fine 
winter  pastures.  Stock  are,  however,  liable  to  be  sometimes 
killed  by  using  it  when  frozen.  Much  of  the  reed-brakes 
might  yet  be  preserved  in  many  places  by  fencing.  Cane 
might  have  been  profitably  exported  upon  our  rivers  of  south 
eastern  Texas,  had  enterprise  been  directed  to  it  sufficiently, 
and  even  yet  it  could  there  be  done  to  good  profit  by  those 
who  have  no  regular  employment,  if  they  should  be  willing 
to  camp  in  the  river  bottoms  in  winter  for  that  purpose 

GRASSES. 

We  have  a  great  variety  of  native  grasses,  some  of  which 
are  very  valuable  from  their  durability,  and  nutritive  qualities. 
In  all  the  timbered  portions  of  the  country  grass  somewhat 
similar  to  the  prairie  grass  of  the  present  day  originally  grew, 
except  where  the  cane  and  reeds  grew.  The  turf  being  broken 
by  the  tramping  of  the  stock,  its  place  is  extensively  occu 
pied  by  thickets  of  under-brush,  particularly  adjacent  to  the 
farms.  Still  in  most  neighborhoods  there  is  vacant  territory 
sufficient  for  tolerably  good  summer  range.  For  about  twenty 
years  past,  the  milo  grass  of  eastern  Texas  has  been  gradu 
ally  spreading  westward  from  the  eastern  border  of  the  state. 
It  is  a  short,  running  grass  that  forms  a  strong  mat  of  roots, 
that  do  not  die  out  during  the  winter,  and  has  in  summer  and 
fall  a  very  small,  slender  stem  that  shoots  up  and  bears  a 
three-pronged  head  of  seed  of  diminutive  size.  Its  leaf  is 
short  and  much  broader  than  that  of  the  Bermuda,  or  running 


94  WEALTH— SOURCES  OF. 

Grasses. 

musquite.  By  its  running  process  it  is  continually  renewing 
itself,  when  fed  down  during  spring,  summer  and  fall,  encircles 
and  kills  out  all  the  worthless  weeds  that  previously  infested 
the  ground,  and  prevents  bushes  from  germinating  where  it 
has  covered  the  surface.  It  is  very  nutritious,  and  very  much 
liked  by  stock  of  all  kinds,  as  horses,  cattle  and  hogs.  It 
has  one  great  advantage  over  the  Bermuda  grass  in  the  fact 
that  it  is  not  difficult  to  destroy  it,  when  the  land  is  attempted 
to  be  put  in  cultivation.  It  now  occupies  all  of  the  thrown- 
out  fields  of  our  eastern  border ;  and  all  that  is  necessary  to 
get  a  good  pasture  of  this  most  valuable  milo  grass  in  eastern 
Texas,  is  to  turn  out  a  field,  or  cut  off  the  trees  and  bushes, 
so  as  to  let  the  sunshine  to  the  ground,  to  which  must  be 
added  a  little  patience  to  see  it  spread.  This  is  destined  to  be 
the  permanent  pasturage  of  that  section,  as  the  famous  run 
ning  musquite  is  of  the  west,  and  like  it,  tramping  does  not 
destroy  it,  as  it  does  the  grasses  that  grow  in  bunch-turfs, 
and  not  by  running. 

The  musquite  grass  is  a  native  of  the  far  west,  and  is  gradu 
ally  spreading  eastwardly  over  the  prairies,  rooting  out  weeds 
and  supplanting  the  coarser  bunch-turf  grass,  that  is  the  com 
mon  grass  of  the  prairies,  usually  called,  sedge  grass, 
though  it  is  very  different  from  the  sedge  grass  of  the  old 
worn  out  fields  of  other  states.  The  musquite  is  a  running 
grass,  very  much  like  the  Bermuda  in  its  appearance,  and  is 
extremely  nutritious.  This  musquite  grass  is  more  perma 
nently  valuable  to  western  Texas  than  all  the  cultivated  crops 
that  can  ever  grow  upon  the  high-lands.  It,  without  any 
labor  bestowed  upon  it,  feeds  hundreds  of  thousands  of  cattle 
and  horses,  and  fattens  them  for  market  in  winter,  as  well  as 
in  summer.  In  the  winter  it  is  hay,  cured  and  saved  from  a 
loss  of  its  nutritious  qualities  by  the  dry  fall  season,  and  the 
general  dryness  of  the  climate  and  soil  of  that  section.  The 
rank  gamma  grass  of  the  river  bottoms,  and  other  grasses 
common  to  be  met  with,  are  believed  to  be  temporary,  and 
unimportant,  as,  like  the  cane  and  reeds,  they  are  giving 
way  to  the  settlements. 

There  is  a  remarkable  grass  that  has,  within  a  few  years 
past,  made  its  appearance  in  the  corn-fields,  after  the  corn  is 


WEALTH— SOURCES  OF.  95 


Grasses. 


laid  by,  in  the  river  bottom  lands  of  the  Colorado  River  near 
Austin.  It  grows  up  like  millet,  bears  a  large  seed,  and,  when 
mowed,  makes  a  fine  hay  of  which  stock,  both  cattle  and 
horses,  are  very  fond.  It  is  sometimes  called  goose  grass, 
from  its  supposed  importation  by  wild  geese,  but  it  really  has 
no  name  established  generally,  and  from  its  advent  here  it 
should  appropriately  be  called  the  Texas  Colorado  grass.  It 
is  probable  it  can  be  raised  on  the  bottom  lands  of  other 
rivers,  and  of  creeks,  and  be  made  extremely  useful,  as  it  is 
said  to  be  no  impediment  to  the  crop  while  growing  and  be 
ing  cultivated ;  and  by  cutting  and  piling  the  corn-stalks,  as 
soon  as  the  corn  is  gathered,  a  heavy  crop  of  good  hay  may 
be  mowed  and  saved  for  winter  use. 

One  of  the  great  advantages  of  grass  pastures  consists  in 
the  great  amount  of  green  food  and  provender  produced  for 
stock  without  the  labor  and  expense  of  cultivation.  Another 
advantage,  when  it  forms  a  dense  mat  of  roots  and  blades  on 
the  surface,  as  does  the  milo  grass  of  the  east,  and  the  mus- 
quite  of  the  west,  it  prevents  the  land  from  deterioration  by 
washing,  and  enriches  the  surface  soil  by  there  arresting  the 
ascension  of  the  mineral  ingredients  that  are  drawn  up  by 
heat,  through  the  process  of  evaporation  from  the  sub-soils, 
which,  combining  with  the  cast-off  matter  from  the  roots  of 
the  grass,  that  takes  place  in  its  annual  renewals  of  its 
growth,  gradually  forms  a  rich  surface  soil. 

It  is  often  remarked,  that  our  high,  rich  plains  of  the  west 
would  be  a  magnificent  country,  if  there  was  only  rain  enough 
there  to  raise  crops  of  corn  and  cotton  with  certainty.  It  is 
true  that,  in  that  event,  it  might  support  a  denser  population; 
but  its  real  magnificence  as  a  grand,  natural  grazing  country 
would  have  departed  with  the  permanence  of  good  sea 
sons,  which  would  rot  the  grass  in  the  winter,  as  is  the  case 
near  our  coast,  and  it  would  no  longer  have  a  good  coat  of 
nutritious  hay,  covering  the  surface  of  the  earth,  upon  which 
stock  can  feed  at  will,  as  is  now  the  case,  by  which  fat  cattle 
are  sent  to  the  market  in  the  dead  of  winter  from  the  plains 
and  valleys  three  hundred  miles  up  the  Brazos  and  Colorado 
Rivers,  while  the  cattle  near  the  coast,  where  it  is  much 
warmer,  are  reeling  with  poverty, — poorly  subsisting  upon  the 


96  WEALTH— SOURCES  OF. 


Grasses — Pests. 


decayed  grass,  whose  nutrition  has  been  greatly  impaired,  and 
even  almost  entirely  destroyed,  by  the  excess  of  moisture 
there  prevailing  during  that  season  of  the  year.  And  in  that 
event,  also,  there  would  not,  and  could  not  be  that  health- 
producing  atmosphere  that  now  makes  its  inhabitants  so  ro 
bust  a  people. 

Its  true  magnificence  consists  in  a  rich,  limy  soil,  not  sub 
ject  to  waste  and  impoverishment  by  evaporation,  ( as  is  the 
case  in  all  wet  countries  )  in  a  temporate  climate,  and  in  a 
pure,  healthful  atmosphere,  and  in  its  dryness,  more  than  in 
any  other  quality.  All  these  qualities  combined  invariably 
produce  in  a  country  a  healthy,  robust  population,  and  are 
almost,  if  not  quite,  absolutely  necessary  to  confer  on  it  the 
benefit  of  a  perpetual  pasturage  during  all  seasons  of  the  year. 

Where  grapes  grow  well  wheat  and  other  small  grains  will 
grow  with  proper  culture. 


THE  HIGH,  DRY  GRAZING  PLAINS  AND  THE  STAKED  PLAIN. 

In  former  times  but  little  was  known  of  these  high  plains, 
including  the  Staked  Plain,  and  the  country  between  the  Pe- 
cos  and  Rio  Grande  rivers,  except  what  could  be  learned 
from  persons  traveling  across  them  on  the  routes  to  and  from 
California,  and  from  persons  who  were  engaged  in  expeditions 
in  pursuit  of  Indians,  or  from  buffalo  hunters. 

Much  of  it  has  now  been  surveyed,  and  stockmen  and 
others  have  passed  over  it  more  extensively,  and  experiments 
to  some  extent  have  been  made  in  raising  crops.  It  is  now 
believed  to  be  much  better  adapted  to  raising  crops,  and  to 
be  more  seasonable,  and  to  have  much  more  water  than  was 
formerly  thought.  Where  the  grasses  grow  well  and  bear 
seeds  from  year  to  year,  it  may  well  be  concluded  that  wheat, 
barley  and  other  cereals  can  be  grown  by  proper  skill  in  cul 
tivation  when  proper  selections,  adapted  to  the  climate  of  the 
country,  are  made.  One  of  the  best  evidences  of  the  capacity 
of  that  whole  plain-country  to  sustain  a  population,  support 
ed  by  the  productions  of  the  earth  there,  is,  that  it  was  for 
centuries  past  the  habitation  of  millions  of  buffaloes,  that  sub 
sisted  upon  its  grasses,  and  got  water  from  its  pools,  lakes, 
springs,  and  streams. 

Though  the  population  there  supported  may  not  be  so 
dense  as  that  farther  east,  still  those  who  live  there  will  have 
peculiar  advantages  in  a  healthful  climate,  in  the  production 
of  the  cereals,  and  permanent  pasturage,  in  manufacturing  fa 
cilities,  and  in  mineral  resources  in  the  different  parts  of  that 
extensive  region  of  the  state. 

97- 


CHAPTER  VII. 


CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS. 


Modes  of  cultivation  of  crops  in  Texas  to  obtain  the  advantages,  and  to  relieve 
against  the  disadvantages,  peculiar  to  the  Texas  elimates  and  soils.  Periods 
of  the  growth  of  different  crops.  How  the  excessive  wet  of  spring  and 
dryness  of  summer  are  to  be  guarded  against. 

The  late  frosts,  their  causes  and  effects,  and  how  relieved  against  both  in  crops 
and  orchard  fruits.  Some  examples  of  successful  farming  in  raising  corn, 
cotton  and  potatoes,  and  the  principles  evolved  therefrom.  Adaptation  of 
the  different  parts  of  the  state  to  different  crops  and  orchard  fruits. 

Orchards,  their  value  and  adaptation  to,  and  mode  of  planting,  pruning,  and  cul 
tivating  with  the  soils  best  adapted  to  them,  and  how  the  disadvantages  of 
each  section  are  to  be  remedied,  and  advantages  of  our  climate  turned  to 
profit.  Grapes,  native  and  cultivated  in  different  parts,  adaptation  to,  uses  of. 

Horses  and  cattle,  modes  of  raising  in  the  past  and  present.  Arts  of  horsemanship 
and  of  throwing  the  rope,  necessary  accomplishment,  how  attained  and  per 
formed.  Mexican  saddle. 

Swine.  Modes  of  raising,  past  and  present.  Managed  with  hog-dogs,  and  how. 
Dependence  on  the  masts,  and  how  benefits  obtained.  Improved  stock. 

Skeep.  Large  section  adapted  to, — adaptation  established.  Profits  of  their  best 
locality  in  a  delightful  country. 

Farming  with  manures,  fertilizers  and  improved  imple 
ments,  is  an  art  in  which  there  is  much  of  science  involved, 
and  it  is  seldom  resorted  to  in  any  country  until  the  natural 
fertility  of  the  virgin  soil  is  considerably  exhausted.  It  will 
likely,  therefore,  be  some  time  before  it  will  be  a  subject  of 
great  practical  importance  in  Texas.  Still  there  may  be  some 
cardinal  principles  in  the  cultivation  of  crops,  and  in  the  rear 
ing  of  orchards  and  vineyards,  as  peculiarly  applicable  to  this 
country,  that  it  may  be  useful  to  point  out. 

The  first  question  to  be  asked  is,  what  can  be  profitably 
grown  so  as  to  remunerate  the  labor  employed,  and  the  capi 
tal  expended  ?  This  must  depend  upon  the  character  or  kiritl 
of  marketable  production  to  which  each  section  is  best 
adapted,  from  its  soil,  climate,  and  means  of  transportation. 
These  things  run  through  the  mind  of  the  farmer,  usually 
without  much  discussion,  and  take  a  direction  in  the  first  settle- 


CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS.  99 


What  can  be  profitably  grown. 


ment  of  a  country,  by  the  application  of  common  sense  to 
what  can  readily  be  seen,  relating  to  the  natural  growth. 
Hence,  it  happened,  that  in  eastern  and  southern  Texas,  the 
early  settlers,  as  soon  as  their  farms  were  opened,  commenced 
to  raise  cotton ;  and  those  of  the  extreme  west  devoted  them 
selves  to  raising  stocks  of  cattle,  sheep  and  horses,  and  of 
the  north,  wheat.  The  principal  crops  grown  in  Texas  are 
wheat,  corn,  cotton  and  sweet  potatoes.  Sugar  and  sea 
Island  cotton  are  raised  to  some  extent  on  and  near  the  coast. 
Irish  potatoes,  tomatoes,  peas,  beans,  and  most  other  vegeta 
bles  of  the  garden,  or  of  the  field,  are  grown  mainly  for  home 
consumption.  In  undertaking  anything,  we  should  endeavor 
to  understand  the  materials  we  have  to  work  with,  the  time 
and  circumstances  under  which  it  must  be  done,  and  the  ob 
jects  to  be  attained. 

It  should  therefore  be  borne  in  mind,  in  the  investigation  of 
the  adaptability  of  crops  to  any  particular  section  of  Texas, 
that  cotton  is  here  a  plant  grown  in  the  spring,  summer,  and 
fall ;  so  are  sweet  potatoes ;  that  corn  is  a  spring  and  early" 
summer  plant,  and  wheat  is  a  fall,  winter  and  spring  plant, 
reaching  but  slightly  in  its  growth  into  the  summer.  Irish 
potatoes  and  most  of  the  garden  vegetables  mature  in  the 
spring  and  early  summer.  Turnips  are  fall  plants,  as  well  as 
some  other  vegetables.  It  should  be  recollected,  also,  that  in 
most  of  the  farming  portions  of  the  state  the  winter,  after  the 
first  of  January,  and  the  spring  are  usually  very  wet,  the  rain 
being  rather  in  excess  for  farming  well ;  that  the  summer  and 
fall  are  generally  dry,  there  not  being  enough  rain  then  to 
sustain  the  prospect  of  the  spring  growth,  by  which  the  far 
mer  very  often  suffers  himself  to  be  disappointed  in  his  san 
guine  expectations.  It  is  a  universal  rule,  of  both  animal 
and  vegetable  productions,  tkat  the  greatest  maturity  is  at 
tained  by  their  growing  during  the  whole  of  their  season  of 
growth,  regularly  and  continuously,  without  either  being 
stopped  or  retarded,  or  pushed  forward  too  hastily  at  any 
period  during  that  time.  One  of  the  most  striking  illustra 
tions  of  these  principles  is  to  be  found  in  the  growth  and  ma 
turity  of  the  cotton  plant  in  the  south,  during  the  full  period 
of  six  months.  And  the  season  why  this  great  plain  of  the 


ioo  CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS. 

Relief  from  excessive  moisture  of  Spring  and  dryness  of  Summer. 


Gulf  slope  is  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  very  best,  cotton  re 
gion  of  the  world,  is,  that  it  is  here  usually  practicable  to  con 
tinue  its  grcntth  during  that  whole  period  without  material 
injury  from  great  excess  or  deficiency  of  heat,  or  from  great 
excess  or  deficiency  of  moisture. 

With  these  things  plainly  in  view  the  problem  to  be  solved 
is,  how  shall  the  cultivation  of  our  ordinary  crops  be  managed 
so  as  to  be,  as  far  as  possible,  relieved  against  the  excessive 
moisture  of  spring  and  the  dryness  of  summer,  in  the  respec 
tive  crops,  that  are  planted  each  in  reference  to  its  season  of 
growth.  It  must  be  understood  that  plants  receive  that  part 
of  their  nourishment  that  comes  from  the  soil,  through  the 
very  small  roots  or  rootlets  that  distribute  themselves  out  in 
different  directions  from  the  main  or  principal  roots  ;  that  their 
nourishment  is  prepared  for  reception  by  these  rootlets  by 
the  chemical  process  which  is  carried  on  in  the  ground  by  the 
combination  of  the  different  materials  in  the  earth ;  that  this 
chemical  process  acts  in  its  most  beneficial  manner,  in  a  mel 
low,  moist  soil,  and  is  stopped  entirely,  or  greatly  retarded, 
equally  by  an  excess  or  by  a  deficiency  of  moisture,  and  also 
equally  by  an  excess  or  deficiency  of  heat.  Now  one  of  the 
means  (and  a  very  efficient  one)  of  preventing  this  cessation, 
or  injurious  retardation  of  the  necessary  chemical  action  pro 
duced  by  this  excess  of  moisture  usually  in  the  spring,  is  bf 
deep  plowing  in  the  preparation  of  the  ground  for  a  crop. 
In  Texas  this  rule  applies  to  all  crops.  It  was  a  practice 
in  states  east  of  this,  when  the  rains  were  more  regular  during 
the  whole  cropping  season  of  the  year,  to  plant  cotton  on 
a  little  hard  ridge,  left  unbroken  in  bedding  up  the  land. 
That,  as  well  as  many  other  things  practiced  in  cultivation 
there,  is  wholly  inapplicable  here. 

Deep  plowing  in  the  preparation  of  the  ground  for  planting 
lets  the  rain  water  sink  down  deeply,  and  leaves  the  surface, 
where  the  young  plant  is  rooted,  much  dryer  than  shallow 
plowing.  The  ground  in  the  spring  is  generally  colder  than 
the  atmosphere,  and  the  warm  rains  of  spring  sink  through 
the  deeply-plowed  ground  and  increase  its  general  tempera 
ture  in  warmth,  which  is  then  so  necessary  to  the  growth  of 
the  plant.  And  if  the  ground  is  very  level,  ®r  its  soil  of  a  na- 


CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS.  101 


Relief  from  excessive  moisture  of  Spring  and  clryness  of  Summer. 

ture  to  retain  the  moisture  at  the  surface,  it  should  not  only 
be  plowed  deeply,  but  it  should  be  thrown  up  into  high,  broad 
ridges,  with  deep  water  furrows,  so  as  to  keep  the  roots  of 
the  plant  out  of  the  water,  or,  what  is  in  effect  the  same  thing, 
out  of  the  wet,  soggy  earth,  which  increases  the  cold  in  the 
spring  of  the  year,  and  prevents  chemical  action.  The  advan 
tages  of  this,  as  a  means  of  increasing  the  warmth  of  the 
earth,  may  be  appreciated  by  considering  the  difficulty  of 
warming  any  body  by  the  action  of  heat  downwards.  We 
do  not  put  fire  on  the  top  of  a  vessel  to  heat  the  tvrater  in  it, 
but  rather  put  it  under  the  vessel  Again,  a  field  of  ten  acres 
plowed  nine  inches  deep  is  equal  to  a  field  of  thirty  acres, 
which  is  plowed  only  three  inches  deep,  in  the  amount  of 
material  that  is  put  to  work  to  make  a  crop.  Another  advan 
tage  in  deep  plowing,  so  important  to  this  country,  is,  that 
the  water  of  the  rains  of  the  spring  having  thereby  sunk 
deeply  in  the  earth,  instead  of  having  run  off  and  washed  off 
a  part  of  the  soil  with  it,  is  stored  away  to  be  drawn  back  to 
the  surface  by  the  heat  of  the  summer,  when  it  is  usually  so 
much  needed  to  sustain  the  growth  of  the  crop. 

Another  means  of  drying  the  land  in  the  spring,  near  the 
roots  of  the  plant,  is,  by  barring  off  the  dirt  from  the  planted 
rows  with  a  plow,  so  as  to  let  the  warmth  of  the  sun  approach 
nearer  the  roots  of  the  plants.  This  being,  however,  after 
the  crop  has  been  planted,  and  has  come  up,  care  must  be 
taken  in  doing  it  in  early  spring,  not  to  stir  the  soil  about  the 
roots  of  the  plants  any  more  than  can  be  helped  ;  for  the 
reason,  that  stirring  the  land  in  early  spring,  near  the  young 
plants,  increases  the  coldness  of  the  soil  in  which  they  stand, 
by  drawing  the  moisture  and  increasing  the  evaporation. 
This  is  often  witnessed  in  the  northern  half  of  Texas,  where, 
through  the  influence  of  the  late  northers,  there  is  usually  a 
frost  early  in  April,  (from  the  5th  to  the  I5th)  which,  if  the 
corn  land  has  been  just  plowed  thoroughly,  will  injure  and 
sometimes  kill  the  young  corn ;  whereas,  that  which  has  not 
been  plowed,  or  which  has  only  been  barred  off,  so  as  not  to 
stir  the  ground  near  the  roots,  has  not  been  injured  at  all  by 
the  frost.  And  one  reason  why  this  late  frost  does  not  do 
more  injury  to  young  crops,  and  to  small  grain,  than  it  really 


102  CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS. 

Relief  from  excessive  moisture  of  Spring  and  dryness  of  Summer. 

does,  is,  that  it  is  a  surface  cold,  or,  in  other  words,  that  it  is 
produced  by  a  coldness  in  the  atmosphere,  of  so  transient  a 
character,  that  the  general  temperature  of  the  earth  is  but 
slightly  changed  by  it,  and  that  only  temporarily  at  the  sur 
face,  being  produced  by  a  slight  norther.  If  the  ground  has 
not  been  recently  stirred  near  the  roots  of  the  plants,  this  sur 
face  cold  will  generally  not  reach  low  enough  to  change  ma 
terially  the  temperature  of  the  earth  in  their  locality,  and, 
therefore,  though  the  top  of  the  corn  may  be  nipped  by  the 
frost,  its  roots  being  uninjured,  it  grows  on  nearly  as  if  there 
had  been  no  frost.  Cotton  at  that  season  is  more  tender  than 
corn,  and,  if  up  when  the  late  frost  comes,  would  be  more 
seriously  injured,  if  not  killed,  by  it;  and,  therefore,  in  all 
the  portions  of  Texas  usually  liable  to  late  frost,  the  time  of 
its  planting  should  have  reference  to  that  anticipated  frost  in 
April,  so  as  to  escape  its  evil  effects,  or  the  danger  of  it. 

Crops  on  high,  rolling  lands  are  seldom  injured  by  the 
short  cold  spells  of  early  spring,  while  those  on  bottoms,  low, 
level  lands,  or  stiff  lands  that  incline  to  hold  the  moisture  at 
the  surface,  are  often  injured  by  them,  if  not  killed;  unless 
by  deep  plowing  or  by  high  bedding  before  planting,  or  by 
barring  off  promptly  and  properly  after  planting,  their  ill 
effects  are  avoided. 

After  this  cold  spell  of  April  is  safely  passed  the  plow  can 
not  well  be  run  too  fast,  or  too  often,  in  order  to  enable  the 
soil  and  the  atmosphere  to  press  the  crop  forward,  so  as  to 
be  in  good  condition  to  meet  and  overcome  the  dry  spell,  or 
drouth,  that  may  be  anticipated  in  the  last  of  spring  or  the 
first  of  summer,  and  sometimes  in  mid-summer.  If  the  crop 
has  thus  been  well  put  in  and  started  off,  care  should  be  taken 
afterwards  to  use  a  sweep  or  harrow  so  as  to  break  the  roots 
of  the  crop  as  little  as  possible,  consistently  with  it  being  kept 
clear  of  grass  and  weeds,  which  should  never  be  suffered  to 
grow  in  a  crop  during  the  period  of  its  maturing. 

If  due  preparation  has  not  been  made  to  meet  that  season 
of  drynese  and  heat,  a  failure  of  the  previously  glowing  pros 
pects  of  a  crop  must  necessarily  ensue.  And  this  leads  us 
to  consider  another  means  of  securing  a  good  crop,  besides 
deep  plowing  before  planting,  which  is,  that  of  giving-  the 


CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS.  103 

Necessity  of  long  distances  between  rows. 

crop  a  long  distance  between  rows,  and  of  thinning  it  out  to  a 
stand  that  the  soil  is  capable  of  sustaining  properly,  during' 
the  dry  season  of  summer.  This  is  perhaps  the  most  dif 
ficult  task  that  the  farmer  has  to  perform,  and  has  heretofore 
been  as  much,  and  perhaps  more,  neglected,  or  disregarded, 
in  this  country,  as  has  the  deep  plowing  before  planting.  For 
though  it  is  often  said,  "that  a  crop  must  be  cultivated  before 
it  is  planted,"  it  is  seldom  said  or  acted  upon,  "that  only  so 
much  crop  should  be  allowed  to  stand  on  the  ground,  as  it  is 
able  to  sustain  in  the  dry  season  of  summer."  The  difficul 
ties  in  this  are,  first,  those  who  have  learned,  or  imitate,  the 
cultivation  of  other  states  east  of  us,  are  apt  to  regard  it  as  a 
mere  waste  of  land  to  give  sufficient  distance  between  the 
rows  in  laying  them  off;  and  secondly,  at  the  usual  time  of 
thinning  the  crop  the  plants  are  growing  so  thriftily,  and  look 
so  flourishing  and  green,  that  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  they 
will  not  continue  to  do  so ;  and,  amidst  their  profusion  of  life 
and  vigor,  it  actually  requires  a  sort  of  stubborn  hardihood, 
upon  cold  calculation  and  conviction  of  necessity,  then  not 
easily  reached,  to  pull  or  cut  up  one-half  as  many  of  the 
stalks  of  corn  or  cotton  as  ought  to  be  taken  up  to  thin  it 
enough.  The  consequence  is,  that  as  many  stalks  are  left  on 
the  ground,  as  the  land  would  be  able  to  make  bear  ears,  or 
bolls,  if  the  moisture  of  spring  continued  during  the  summer, 
and  the  land  retained  the  fertility  with  which  it  set  out  in 
the  spring.  It  would  be  purely  accidental  in  this  country  if 
either  or  both  of  these  things  should  happen  in  any  year; 
which  long  experience  has  demonstrated  to  an  absolute  cer 
tainty.  Why,  then,  leave  any  more  crop  on  the  ground  than 
that  which  can  reasonably  be  expected  to  grow  and  mature, 
during  an  ordinarily  dry  season  ?  A  farmer,  who  had  food 
for  three  horses  only,  would  be  considered  unwise  to  feed  it 
to  nine,  or  even  to  six,  under  the  expectation  of  keeping  them 
in  good  condition.  Our  spring  season  gives  promise,  invari 
ably  almost,  of  twice  the  crop  of  corn  and  cotton  that  the 
summer  can  possibly  yield,  unless  it  should  happen  to  be  a 
rare  exception  to  the  general  rule  in  the  amount  of  rain-faH. 
By  way  of  elucidating  this  much  neglected  subject,  it  maybe 
asked,  what  is  the  end  to  be  attained  in  planting  corn  and  cot- 


104  CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS. 

Necessity  of  long  distances  between  rows. 


ton  ?     To  which,  it  may  be  answered,  that  it  is  to  make  good 
ears  of  corn,  and  good  bolls  of  cotton,  rather  than  large  stalks 
without  the  good  ears  and  bolls.     Now  if  the  fertility  of  the 
soil  be  exhausted  in  producing  a   super-abundance  of  stalks, 
it  cannot  produce  good  ears  and  bolls.     But  more  than  that, 
the  earth  will  be  true  to  itself,  in  its  own  laws  of  action,  and 
if  there  is  imposed  on  it  the  burden   of  producing  a  super 
abundance  of  stalks  consisting  of  mainstems,  branches  and 
leaves,  it  will,  when  the  dry  season  overtakes  it,   struggle   on 
with  its  load,  and  do  its  best  to  keep  filled  with  vitality  every 
leaf  and  branch  with  which  the  moisture  of  spring  has  crowd 
ed  the  stems,  and  will  not  leave  that  off  to  make  ears,  in  the 
case  of  corn,  and  bolls,  in  the  case  of  cotton ;  but  will  only 
make  such  an  amount  of  ears  and  bolls  as  may  be  within  its 
power,  after  sustaining,  as  best  it  may,  that  which  had  been 
previously    produced    in  the   shape  of  stems,  branches  and 
leaves.     Therefore  it  is,  that  we  sometimes  see  a  fine   field  of 
well  grown  stalks  of  corn,  whose  shoots   have   good  shucks 
with  but  little  grain  ;  and  of  well  grown  stalks  of  cotton  with 
but  few  bolls,  and  they  not  well  developed.     This  is  rarely,  if 
ever,  seen  where  it  is  complained  that  there   is   only  half  a 
stand,  which  indeed,  though  said  to  be  only   half  a  stand,  is 
often  stand   enough   to   produce   well.     One    reason   of  the 
necessity   of  good  distance  in  the  plants  of  crops,  both  be 
tween  and  in  the  rows,  is,    that,  by   that    means   there  not 
only  will  be  a  sufficient  moisture  and  fertility  in  the  soil  to  sus 
tain  them  in  dry  weather,  but,  also,  the  air  and  the  light  can 
properly  perform  their  offices  in  vegetable  production ;  which 
they  cannot  do  in  crowded  crops.     This  may  be  readily  seen 
in  cotton,  which  grows  with  a  tap-root  and  branches  like  a 
tree.     And  the  principle  sought  to  be  enforced  here  is  veri 
fied  in  every  orchard,  and  in  the  native  forests,  where  it  may 
be  seen  that  the  trees  that  grow   in   thick  clusters,  so   as  to 
prevent  the  free  circulation  of  the  air  and  the  admission   of 
the  light  to  all  parts  of  them,  will  bear  little  or  no  fruit ;  and 
that  which  is  found  in  the  densely-shaded  parts   of  the  trees 
will  be  deficient  in  full  development.     This  is  very  conspicu 
ous  in  the  trees  on  the  edges  of  the  prairies  in  the  numerous 
acorns  they  bear,  compared  with  trees  off  in  the  adjoining 


CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS.  105 

Necessity  of  long  distances  between  rows. 

thick  forests ;  and  also  where  a  hickory-nut  or  walnut  tree  is 
left  in  an  open  place  about  a  farm. 

Another  means  of  preventing  the  ill  effects  of  the  dry  sea 
son  of  our  summers  upon  crops,  is,  by  preventing  the  growth 
of  young  grass  and  weeds  amongst  it,  until  the  crop  is  fully 
matured.  The  crop,  especially  of  corn,  is  usually  laid  by,  and 
let  grow  up  in  grass  and  weeds,  more  or  less,  that  often  at 
tain  considerable  growth  during  the  time  the  crop  is  struggling 
to  reach  its  maturity  in  the  midst  of  the  dry  season.  The 
moisture  and  fertility  of  the  soil,  that  are  required  to  produce 
the  growth  of  grass  and  weeds,  is  exactly  that  which  has  been 
lost  to  the  crop  during  the  earing  time  in  corn,  and  the  boiling 
time  in  cotton,  which  is  the  time,  above  all  others,  that  the 
natural  resources  of  the  earth  should  be  husbanded  for  the 
use  of  the  crop.  To  appreciate  the  full  force  of  this,  it  must 
be  understood  that  the  vigorous  young  grass  and  weeds, 
springing  up  in  the  previously  well-tilled  ground,  are  more 
active  in  searching  for  and  appropriating  the  remaining  mois 
ture  and  fertility  of  the  soil,  than  the  older  plants,  constituting 
the  crop  ;  just  as  may  be  seen  in  our  forests,  where  the  young 
trees  are  growing  thickly  amidst  the  old  trees,  stopping  the 
growth  of  the  older  ones,  causing  them  gradually  to  die  off 
and  decay,  by  absorbing  from  the  earth  and  air  the  suste 
nance  by  which  they  formerly  flourished  in  vigor.  Again, 
we  find  an  advantage  in  wide  rows  in  planting,  by  its  taking 
less  plowing  in  the  spring  to  keep  the  ground  clear  of  grass 
and  weeds,  and  by  means  of  sweeps  or  harrows,  keeping  them 
down  in  the  summer,  without  injuring  the  plants.  And  if  the 
good  season  should  continue  during  the  summer,  by  a  rare 
accident,  the  space  will  be  needed  for  the  unusually  large 
growth  of  the  plant.  Some  of  the  very  best  crops  of  corn 
and  cotton  have  been  made  on  ordinary  up-lands  in  Texas, 
when  the  rows  were  planted  five,  and  even  six  and  seven  feet 
apart.  To  get  the  full  benefit  of  wide  rows,  as  has  been  re 
marked  in  another  place  for  the  reason  there  assigned,  they 
should  be  laid  off  as  nearly  as  practicable,  in  the  direction  of 
north  and  south,  which  is  the  direction  of  our  prevalent  winds 
in  the  spring  and  summer  seasons  of  the  year. 

Crops  planted  in  rows  north  and  south,   not  only  denve 


106  CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS. 

Advantages  of  rows  running  north  and  south. 

greater  benefit  from  the  increased  circulation  of  the  air,  but 
the  plants  shade  the  ground  at  their  roots  at  the  hottest  time 
of  the  day,  which  is  no  little  advantage  during  a  dry,  hot 
summer.  It  may  not  be  improper,  also,  to  state  the  fact,  that 
a  person  is  less  exhausted  by  the  heat  in  plowing  north  and 
south,  than  east  and  west ;  as  in  the  latter  case  the  sun  is 
pouring  its  heat  upon  his  back  on  every  round  during  most  of 
the  day. 

It  is  not  designed  to  do  more  here,  than  to  point  out  some 
of  the  means  to  be  used  in  the  cultivation  of  crops  by  which 
the  advantages  may  be  realized,  and  the  disadvantages  obvi 
ated,  which  are  dependent  to  a  great  extent,  upon  the  pecu 
liarities  of  our  climate,  and  which  it  is  believed  will  consist, 
in  the  main,  in  deep  plowing  or  sub-soiling  in  the  preparation 
for  a  crop,  and  such  other  means  as  will  promote  dryness  and 
warmth  in  the  spring,  in  wide  rows,  thinned  out  to  such  a 
stand,  as  the  usually  dry  season  in  the  summer  will  mature 
well ;  and  in  shallow  plowing  or  harrowing  of  the  ground, 
after  the  early  spring  has  passed,  so  as  to  keep  down  the  grass 
and  weeds,  without  breaking  the  roots  of  the  growing  crop 
until  the  crop  shall  have  been  properly  matured.  The  same 
facts  and  principles  may  be  applied  to  the  cultivation  of  other 
crops,  besides  corn  and  cotton,  if  the  time  of  the  year  adapt 
ed  to  their  respective  growth  and  maturity  be  taken  into  con 
sideration. 

It  may  be  of  practical  advantage  to  give  some  examples  of 
the  modes  that  have  been  successfully  adopted  in  raising  the 
ordinary  crops.  General  Pitts,  who  lived  many  years  on  the 
San  Marcos  in  western  Texas,  was  heard  to  say  that  he  never 
failed  to  make  corn  there,  even  in  the  dryest  seasons,  and 
when  asked  how  he  made  it,  his  terse  reply  was,  "by  deep 
plowing." 

The  Fullerlove  mode  of  making  corn  with  seven  furrows 
after  planting,  is  as  follows,  to  wit:  Early  in  the  spring,  just 
before  the  time  for  planting,  a  piece  of  land  is  selected  which 
has  been  well  cultivated  in  cotton  the  preceding  year;  three 
furrows  are  run  deeply  in  the  middle  of  the  rows  with  a 
scooter  plow,  upon  which  a  bed  is  thrown  with  a  turning 
plow,  just  as  land  is  prepared  for  planting  cotton.  A  straight 


CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS.  107 

Examples  of  successful  farming. 

row  is  run  in  the  middle  of  the  bed  with  a  very  small  plow, 
into  which  the  corn  is  dropped,  and  covered  by  running  one 
or  two  furrows.  The  more  exactly  straight  the  corn  can  be 
put  in  the  drill,  the  easier  it  will  be  cultivated.  When  the 
corn  has  sprouted  and  is  ready  to  come  up,  the  top  of  the 
ridge  is  knocked  off  with  a  board  so  as  to  allow  the  corn  to 
come  up  in  a  smooth,  clean  surface.  Now  the  seven  furrows 
are  commenced  to  be  made  by  barring  off  each  side  of  the 
corn  with  a  turning  plow,  shortly  after  it  comes  up.  The  ef 
fect  of  this  is  to  keep  the  little  ridge  upon  which  the  corn  is 
standing,  warm  and  dry,  should  there  be  an  excess  of  rain, 
which  is  usually  the  case  at  that  season.  Before  the  roots 
of  the  corn  shall  protrude  from  the  little  ridge,  the  dirt  is 
thrown  back  to  the  corn  with  a  turning  plow,  so  as  to  cover 
up  any  grass  or  weeds  that  may  have  come  up  in  the  drill. 
By  this  means  the  corn  is  still  kept  on  a  ridge,  with  furrows 
each  side  of  it,  sufficiently  near  and  deep  to  draw  off  from  it  the 
excess  of  water  that  may  have  fallen.  The  next  plowing  is 
with  a  sweep,  (after  sowing  peas,)  three  furrows  of  which  will 
plow  out  the  middle  of  the  row,  and  throw  more  dirt  to  the 
corn.  By  this  mode  the  roots  of  the  corn  are  not  broken  at 
all,  the  corn  is  laid  by  very  early,  and  the  peas  will  be  sown 
in  time  to  get  a  good  start  before  they  are  too  much  shaded 
by  the  corn.  This  admirable  mode  of  raising  corn  is  practi 
cable  only  when  the  land  has  been  previously  well  cultivated 
in  cotton,  or  in  something  that  required  it  to  be  kept  clear  of 
grass  and  weeds  during  the  previous  year.  Mr.  Fullerlove 
was  a  good  farmer,  and  a  respectable  gentleman,  who  lived  in 
De  Soto  Parish,  in  Louisiana,  and  cultivated  black-jack  and 
hickory  ridge  lands,  very  similar  to  the  lands  in  eastern  Texas, 
where  his  mode  was  extensively  adopted  with  profit. 

A  successful  farmer  in  Rusk  county,  (Mr.  Baily)  followed 
the  plan  of  farming  as  follows :  He  cleared  a  farm  of  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  placed  his  gin  house  in  the  middle 
of  it,  around  which  he  planted  about  one  acre  in  corn,  and  all 
of  the  balance  in  cotton,  except  that  he  crossed  his  cotton 
rows  in  planting,  with  corn  rows,  twenty  or  thirty  feet  apart, 
and  cultivated  the  corn  with  his  cotton.  He  cultivated  his 
cotton  late,  so  as  to  prevent  any  grass  or  weeds  from  growing 


io8  CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS. 

Examples  of  successful  farming. 

in  any  part  of  the  farm,  during  any  year,  and  thereby  it  was 
easily  kept  clean  every  year.  He  had  no  cross  fences  to  keep 
up.  He  gathered  his  corn  after  he  gathered  his  cotton,  except 
what  he  could  gather  near  the  turn-rows,  along  which  his 
wagon  would  pass.  He  made  plenty  of  corn  for  bread,  and  for 
his  mules  and  hogs,  and  kept  on  hand  no  more  live-stock  of 
anyJdnd,  than  what  he  could  make  useful  to  him  in  this  mode 
of  farming.  He  was  emphatically  a  cotton  farmer,  and  a 
successful  one. 

Another  successful  farmer  was  Dr.  W.  P.  Wright,  who 
combined  science  with  experiment  in  farming,  both  in  western 
and  in  eastern  Texas.  His  plan  deserves  to  be  noticed.  His 
mode  of  farming  was  dependent  upon  having  plenty  of  cleared 
land,  and  cultivating  his  crops  of  corn  and  cotton  almost  en 
tirely  with  the  plow,  as  must  be  the  case  to  a  great  degree  in 
all  successful  farming  in  this  country.  He  planted  his  corn 
or  cotton,  especially  the  latter,  inxdrilled  rows,  six,  seven,  eight, 
and  even  ten  feet  apart ; — leaving  the  cotton  thick  or  thin  in 
the  drill,  according  to  the  strength  of  the  land.  During  all 
the  early  part  of  the  season  he  cultivated  the  crop  in  the 
drills,  by  plowing  and  chopping  through  them,  and  thinning 
out  to  a  proper  stand.  When  the  middle  of  the  row  became 
foul  with  grass  or  weeds,  he  lapped  it  into  two  or  three  ridges 
with  a  turning  plow,  which  required  only  half  the  time  re 
quired  for  plowing  out  the  middle,  which  is  done  later  in  the 
season,  when  the  press  of  work  is  over ;  after  which  the  crop 
of  cotton  may  be  kept  clean  with  scrapes  or  harrows  until 
frost  in  the  fall.  The  principle  of  his  theory  is,  that  by  the 
great  width  of  the  rows,  one  hand  can  cultivate  double  the 
usual  quantity  of  .land,  and  can  keep  it  clean  by  horse-power 
until  frost ;  and  that  at  the  same  time  the  cotton  will  have 
plenty  of  room  to  spread,  if  there  is  plenty  of  rain  during  the 
season ;  and  if  there  is  not,  the  space  will  be  needed  to  fur 
nish  moisture  to  the  plants  in  the  drill.  The  size  of  the 
stalks,  the  number  and  the  weight  of  the  bolls  of  cotton,  and 
the  amount  of  corn  produced  by  this  mode  of  planting  in 
wide  rows,  will  astonish  any  one,  who  has  never  witnessed  the 
experiment. 

A  very  great  object  with  farmers,  is,  and  should  be,  to  dis- 


CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS.  109 

Examples  of  successful  farming. 

pense  with  the  vast  amount  of  scraping  or  hoeing,  formerly 
so  much  in  use  in  making  cotton.  This  can  only  be  done  by 
a  most  careful  preparation  in  planting,  and  by  a  skillful  selec 
tion,  and  use  of  plows.  A  practical  instance  of  this  may  be 
related,  where  an  intelligent  mechanic,  upon  turning  farmer, 
devised  the  means  of  cultivating  sixty  acres  of  nice  ridge  land 
in  corn  and  cotton,  by  the  help  of  his  son,  a  boy,  two 
mules,  and  by  the  use  of  plows  and  harrows  almost  entirely. 
It  was  done  in  the  following  manner: 

He  plowed  his  land  thoroughly  into  ridges,  and  ran  a  har 
row  upon  the  ridges,  until  they  were  fully  smooth.  He  then 
opened  the  ridges  with  a  small  plow,  having  affixed  a  piece 
of  round  wood  to  the  back  of  the  plow  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  a  smooth  surface  in  the  plowed  furrow,  into  which  his 
well  rolled  seed  fell  when  sown ;  and  thereby  the  cotton  and 
corn  came  up  regularly  in  a  perfectly  straight  row.  It  was 
then  cultivated  entirely  with  harrows,  after  the  first  plowing 
around  the  cotton  and  corn,  with  the  exception  of  thinning 
out,  which  was  done  in  a  few  days,  by  his  two  little  girls. 
His  crop,  when  gathered,  was  more  valuable  than  that  of  a 
neighbor  who  employed  four  negro  men,  and  with  them  cul 
tivated  better  land  in  the  usual  mode  with  hoes  and  plows. 
This  information  was  derived  from  the  neighbor  who  was  thus 
surpassed  in  farming  by  the  ingenious  mechanic. 

These  examples  exhibit  the  advantages  of  keeping  the 
ground  clear  of  grass  and  weeds,  from  year  to  year,  so  as  to 
prevent  their  seeds  from  maturing ;  of  width  in  the  rows,  so 
as  to  prevent  more  crop  from  growing  than  can  be  sustained, 
during  the  whole  season  of  its  growth  ;  of  cultivating  the  crop 
almost  entirely  with  plows,  sweeps  and  harrows,  and  dispens 
ing  greatly  with  the  use  of  the  hoe,  so  much  formerly,  and 
now  too  much  in  use,  and  made  necessary  by  the  usual  mode 
of  farming ;  of  deep  plowing  in  preparing  the  land  for  plant 
ing,  and  in  the  early  part  of  the  season,  and  shallow  plowing 
afterwards,  continued  late  in  the  season.  The  effort  of  the 
intelligent  farmer  should  be  to  combine  all  of  these  advan 
tages,  as  far  as  possible,  in  the  same  crop. 

An  example  of  good  wheat  crops  may  be  found  upon  the 
farms,  situated  upon  the  high,  black,  limy  ridges  in  the  prairies 


i  io  CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS. 


Modes  of  raising  potatoes. 


of  northern  Texas  where  the  exact  condition  of  things  is 
found  that  is  most  favorable  to  a  crop  of  small  grain ;  to  wit : 
A  limy  soil,  high  and  undulating  ridges  so  as  to  obviate  the 
usual  excess  of  moisture  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  and  so  as 
to  be  easily  accessible  to  the  winds  that  sweep  over  the  grow 
ing  grain,  and  prevent  the  stagnation  of  atmosphere  in  the 
field. 

In  raising  sweet  potatoes,  which  grow  during  spring,  sum 
mer  and  fall,  the  land  should  be  deeply  broken  up  one  way, 
and  bedded  up  the  other  into  high,  broad  ridges,  upon  which 
the  slips  should  be  planted,  (without  the  ridge  being  drawn 
up  to  a  point  on  top),  so  as  to  shed  the  falling  water  in  the 
spring.  Thus  the  plant  gets  the  warmth  from  the  falling  rain 
water,  and  is  still  high  enough  above  the  level  of  the  earth  to 
be  kept  out  of  the  soggy  ground,  produced  by  the  super 
abundant  rain  of  the  spring.  As  summer  approaches,  and  the 
vines  begin  to  spread,  they  should  be  turned  from  side  to  side, 
and  the  ridges  plowed  into  deeply,  and  thrown  towards  the 
plant,  without  covering  up  the  vines,  which  should  never  be 
done.  After  this  is  done,  but  little  culture  is  needed,  except, 
that  when  the  vines  have  covered  the  ground,  a  stick  like  a 
hoe  handle  should  be  run  under  the  vines  along  the  middle  of 
the  rows,  so  as  to  lift  them  up,  and  detach  from  the  ground 
the  little  roots,  that  have  shot  down  into  the  earth  from  the 
vines,  out  in  the  middle  of  the  row,  and  on  the  side  of  the 
ridge,  thereby  giving  the  root  in  the  ridge  all  of  the  susten 
ance  derivable  from  the  whole  vine.  They  should  not  be  dug 
until  after  or  just  before  the  first  light  frost  in  the  fall.  This 
mode  is  not  only  conformable  to  the  true  principles  of  culti 
vation,  but  it  is  that  which  is  adopted  by  Mr.  White,  an  ex 
perienced  farmer  in  Texas,  who  has  potatoes  to  sell  every 
year  and  does  not  attribute  it  to  "  luck  " 

Irish  potatoes,  being  usually  in  this  climate  a  spring  and 
early  summer  crop,  should  be  planted  upon  high  beds  of  rich, 
well  pulverized  soil.  When  they  are  planted  deeply  in  the 
ridge,  as  is  sometimes  done,  it  renders  the  crop  uncertain  as 
to  quantity,  and  makes  them  late  in  maturing.  The  earth 
should  not  be  drawn  up  much  on  the  stalks  or  vines,  as  that 
tends  to  produce  the  same  result  as  deep  planting.  A  sec- 


CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS.  in 


Adaptation  of  soils  to  crops — orchard  fruits. 


ond  crop  may  often  be  made  by  planting  in  August,  or  earlier 
in  the  summer  if  the  season  is  favorable.  By  this  late  plant 
ing,  seed  for  the  next  year  may  be  made.  When  more  is 
made  in  the  early  planting  than  can  be  used,  one  of  the 
best  modes  of  keeping  them  during  the  summer  and  fall,  is 
to  let  them  remain  in  the  ridges  where  they  have  grown  ;  and, 
in  case  of  a  long  drouth,  they  may  be  better  preserved  by 
drawing  up  the  earth  on  the  ridges.  JHj 
them  sound  even  during  the  winter,  m$  Better  than'  dig* 
and  housing  them.  'N I  p  g  '* 

In  seeking  the  best  mode  of  cultivato^wjth  .r^f 
any  crop  that  can  be  cultivated  here,  the  roi 
in  which  it  can  best  be  grown,  so  as  to  arrive' 
must  be  considered  in  connection  with  the  probable  charac 
ter  of  the  seasons,  in  reference  to  moisture  and  dryness,  heat 
and  cold,  that  may  reasonably  be  anticipated  during  every 
part  of  the  full  period  of  its  growth  and  maturity,  so  as  to 
provide  for  helping  Nature  to  do  its  work  in  production,  on 
principles  deduced  from  the  works  of  Nature. 

With  the  same  object,  as  above  indicated,  some  views  will 
be  presented  on  the  subject  of  orchards  in  Texas. 

There  is  a  considerable  difference  in  the  adaptability  of 
the  different  parts  of  Texas  to  the  different  sorts  of  orchard 
fruits,  though  fruits  of  some  kinds  grow  well  in  each  section. 
Oranges,  with  some  protection,  grow  on  the  coast.  Figs  and 
pears  grow  well  in  southern  Texas,  and  figs  might  be  grown 
even  in  northern  Texes,  if  properly  protected  from  the  spells 
of  severe  cold.  In  nearly  all  of  the  settled  portions  of  Texas, 
pears,  peaches,  apples,  and  plums  can  be  grown.  Apples 
do  well  in  the  northern  and  north-eastern  part  of  the  state, 
as  well  as  peaches,  pears  and  plums,  and  are  already  being 
raised  for  market.  Our  ripe  apples  can  be  sent  to  St.  Louis, 
and  Chicago  in  the  latter  part  of  May  or  first  of  June,  when 
their  apple  trees  are  scarcely  out  of  bloom.  This  is  the  great 
advantage  that  we  have  in  Texas  in  fruit-growing,  as  well  as 
in  raising  wheat,  and  the  orchardist  as  well  as  the  wheat- 
raiser  should  improve  this  advantage  by  raising  fruit  and 
grain  mostly  for  the  earliest  market  season.  It  is  hardly  to  be 
expected  that  we  can  ever  compete  with  states  further  north 


ii2  CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS. 

Orchards,  their  value,    &c. 

in  the  late  fruits,  either  in  quality  or  quantity,  on  account  of 
our  usually  long,  dry  summers,  that  tend  to  produce  a  tough 
ness  in  fruit,  and  often  to  diminish  its  full  growth. 

There  is  a  very  fine  apple,  called  the  bunch  or  orange  ap 
ple,  introduced  and  cultivated  by  Mr.  Perdue  of  Smith  county, 
which  has  to  some  extent  been  propagated  in  this  state.  It 
is  here  noticed  on  account  of  its  peculiarities  in  growth  and 
bearing.  The  tree  grows  in  bunch  shape,  like  the  black-jack 
tree  of  the  forest,  with  a  very  dark  green  foliage  which  so 
continues  late  in  the  season,  after  that  of  most  other  apple 
trees  has  faded.  Its  fruit  is  of  good  size,  somewhat  bell- 
shaped  and  reddish  in  color,  and  ripens  during  two  months  of 
summer,  while  there  is  still  small,  green,  unripe  fruit  growing 
on  the  tree,  presenting  in  that  respect,  as  well  as  in  its  green 
foliage,  the  appearance  of  the  orange  tree.  The  fruit  mel 
lows  on  the  tree  and  is  very  palatable,  as  well  as  beautiful. 
A  remarkably  large  pear  is  being  now  propagated  to  some 
extent,  (limited  as  yet)  that  has  been  introduced  and  cultivat 
ed  by  Mr.  Zimri  Tate  of  the  same  county.  One  produced  by 
him  and  sent  to  the  St.  Louis  fair  in  1874,  weighed  over  two 
pounds. 

We  have  a  number  of  orchard  nurseries  in  different  parts  of 
the  state,  and  much  attention  is  being  given  to  fruit-growing. 
The  indications  now  are,  that  figs,  pears  and  muscadines 
(scuppernong  grapes)  will  succeed  in  the  south  and  south 
east;  and  that  peaches,  apples  and  grapes  (as  the  Warren, 
Catawba,  Clinton,  &c.,)  will  succeed  best  in  the  middle,  north 
and  north-west  parts  of  the  state.  Indeed,  fruit,  introduced 
here  from  other  states,  seems  rather  to  improve  in  size  and 
quality,  when  planted  and  cultivated  in  the  section  adapted  to 
it,  and,  hence,  we  may  in  time  have  nurseries  of  fruit  to  sup 
ply  ourselves,  and  even  to  sell  trees  and  vines  to  oth-or  states. 

One  thing  will  always  recommend  our  fruits,  grapes,  vege 
tables  and  grains  of  all  kinds,  which  is  their  sweetness,  or  the 
large  amount  of  sacharine  matter  which  they  contain,  on  ac 
count  of  our  usually  dry,  sunny  climate,  during  the  season  of 
their  growth  and  maturity.  Flour  from  our  wheat  will  on 
that  account  be  greatly  preferred,  as  less  liable  to  damage,  by 
being  exported  across  the  water  to  foreign  countries,  when 


CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS.  113 

Mode  of  planting,  pruning,  &c, 

our  commerce  shall  have  taken  that  direction.  This  quality 
in  our  fruits  and  vegetables  should  attract  attention  towards 
the  kinds  to  be  grown,  and  the  improvement  of  them  in  such 
a  manner  as  will  commend  them  in  market,  on  account  of  that 
peculiarity,  and  in  addition  to  the  early  period  of  the  year  in 
which  they  can  be  brought  to  full  maturity  for  market.  And 
it  may  well  be  remarked  here,  that  as  soon  as  our  railroads 
reach,  and  penetrate  Mexico,  a  vast  market  will  be  open 
to  our  early  fruits,  vegetables  and  grain;  and  preparations 
may  well  now  be  made,  by  planting  orchards  and  vineyards 
in  Texas  to  meet  that  demand. 

As  my  previous  remarks,  upon  the  cultivation  of  crops, 
were  directed  principally  to  corn  and  cotton,  as  the  standing 
crops  of  the  country,  so  now,  it  will  be  principally  directed 
to  the  growth  of  peach,  pear,  fig  and  apple  trees. 

If  any  one  will  look  at  the  growth  of  the  forest  trees  in  any 
particular  locality  in  any  part  of  this  country,  he  will  thereby 
perceive  the  standard  and  character  of  the  growth  of  the 
fruit  trees,  grown  in  that  locality.  And  in  the  same  way,  he 
may  determine  the  fruit-bearing  tendency  of  them.  On  our 
eastern  border,  and  in  south-eastern  Texas,  there  is  a  tendency 
in  fruit  trees  to  grow  too  rapidly  and  thriftily  in  the  produc 
tion  of  wood,  and  consequently  with  a  diminished  tendency 
to  fruit-bearing.  Towards  the  west  and  north-west  from  that 
region,  (as  the  moisture  of  the  climate  diminishes)  there  is  a 
gradual  tendency  to  diminish  in  wood  growth,  and  to  increase 
in  fruit-bearing,  until  a  line  is  reached  where  the  dryness  and 
heat  of  the  climate  operates  to  the  prejudice  of  both  wood 
growth  and  fruit-bearing.  In  all  those  sections,  where  dry- 
ness  is  the  impediment  to  fruit-growing,  irrigation  must  be 
resorted  to,  as  it  has  been  done  with  the  most  signal  success 
at  El  Paso  on  the  Rio  Grande.  Where  irrigation  was  not  ab 
solutely  necessary,  other  means  might  be  resorted  to,  such  as 
frequent  deep  plowing,  and  grafting  upon  roots  of  a  larger 
and  more  thrifty  growth.  For  instance,  if  a  pear  tree  is  found 
to  grow  there  more  thriftily  and  larger  than  the  apple  tree, 
then  graft  the  apple  tree  upon  the  pear  tree  root. 

The  very  reverse  of  this  should  be  done   in  the   extreme 

eastern  and  south-eastern  moist  portions  of  the  state,  where 

8 


114  CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS. 

Peculiarities  of  our  climate  turned  to  profit. 

all  fruit  trees,  if  practicable,  should  be  dwarfed  by  being 
grafted  upon  a  less  and  a  slower  growth ;  so  as  to  increase  the 
fruit-bearing,  and  diminish  the  wood  growth.  These  two  ex 
tremes  being  considered,  will  serve  as  a  direction  for  selecting 
the  location  of  an  orchard,  in  the  intermediate  localities,  by 
avoiding  the  seepy  ground  at  the  foot  of  a  ridge,  and  the  dry 
or  gravelly  knobs  on  the  top  of  the  ridge. 

Our  late  frosts  sometimes  produce  a  failure  in  the  crop  of 
peaches,  by  catching  the  trees  in  full  bloom.  One  means  of 
preventing  this  misfortune,  is,  by  plowing  the  orchard  deeply 
once  or  twice  before,  and  just  at,  blooming  time;  by  which 
the  ground  is  kept  cold,  and  the  blooming  of  the  trees  is  de 
layed  so  as  to  miss  the  frost.  Another,  is  to  plant  the  or 
chard  on  the  north  side  of  a  ridge,  or  on  the  top  of  a  high 
hill,  (the  higher  the  better  for  that)  by  which  the  blooming 
time  will  be  deferred.  This  damage  to  the  fruit  may  be 
averted,  or  much  lessened,  by  preparing,  in  advance,  the  means 
of  keeping  up  slow,  smouldering  fires,  well  distributed  in  the 
orchard  (during  the  nights  that  the  frosts  may  be  anticipa 
ted),  by  the  smoke  of  which  the  atmosphere  may  be  warmed. 
There  is  a  good  peach  now  being  grown  in  the  nursery  of 
Dr.  Yokum  of  Larissa,  in  Cherokee  county,  Texas,  that 
blooms  too  late  for  the  fruit  to  be  killed  by  the  frost  of  spring, 
that  should  demand  particular  attention  by  orchardists  in 
Texas. 

Provision  should  also  be  made  for  relief  against  the  injury 
consequent  upon  our  long,  dry  summers.  To  meet  this  ne 
cessity  the  rows  should  be  laid  ofT  wide  enough,  north  and 
south,  to  permit  a  free  circulation  of  air,  when  the  trees  shall 
be  grown.  They  should  be  at  least  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet 
wide. 

In  addition  to  that,  the  tree  should  be  made  to  grow  with 
stalk  or  stem  about  three  feet  high,  with  branches  in  every 
direction,  so  as  to  keep  the  bunchy  top  well  balanced,  on  and 
over  the  stem.  This  will  prevent  the  sun  from  injuring  the 
bark  of  the  tree  on  the  south  side  of  it,  will  prevent  it  from 
being  bent  or  blown  down  by  storms,  and  will  also  cause  the 
branches  to  grow  upwards,  instead  of  horizontally,  and  facili 
tate  the  plowing  near  the  trees.  This  shape  of  a  tree  may 


CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS.  115 


Grapes — cultivation  of  in  different  parts. 


be  produced  by  three  prunings ;  the  first,  when  the  young 
tree  is  planted  out,  by  cutting  it  off,  leaving  it  three  feet  high 
only;  the  second,  by  cutting  off  the  four  or  five  branches  that 
have  been  allowed  to  grow,  leaving  them  about  six  inches 
long ;  and  the  third,  by  cutting  the  branches  that  come  on  the 
first  branches,  so  as  to  leave  them  about  six  inches  long, 
which  will  be  just  at  the  end  of  two  years  from  the  time  of 
setting  out  the  young  tree.  After  that,  the  trimming,  if  any, 
should  be  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  tree  well 
balanced,  or  to  get  rid  of  any  limbs  that  happen  to  incline 
downwards.  The  orchard  should  by  all  means  be  cultivated 
so  as  to,  keep  out  of  it  the  weeds  and  grass  that  will  ab 
sorb  the  moisture  of  the  ground  in  summer,  and  will  propor 
tionately  rob  the  trees  of  it. 

The  rearing  of  vineyards,  and   wine  making,   partake  too 
much  of  the  nature  of  scientific  arts  to  justify  any  extended 
notice    of   the   subjects  as   applicable   to  Texas  at  present. 
Wine  has  not  been  sufficiently  adopted  as  a  beverage  in  the 
United  States  as  yet,  to  make  its  manufacture  profitable  here, 
in  comparison  with  other  productions  that  require  less  time 
and  skill.     Still,  for  table  use  and  home  consumption,  even  in 
making  wine,  the  cultivation  of  the  grape  deserves  attention. 
Most  of  the  settled  portions  of  Texas  produce  some  kinds  of 
grapes  well.     In  the  south  and  east  the  scuppernong  grape, 
which  is  a  species  of  muscadine,  grows  and  bears  well  where 
other  kinds  would  fail  from  too  much  moisture,  in  the  time  of 
maturing  the  fruit.     It  is  a  native  of  the  low  country  of  North 
Carolina,  on  or  near  the  Atlantic  Coast.     (One  vine  covering 
ninety  feet  square,  upon  the  premises  of  Mr.  J.  G.  Woldret, 
in  the  city  of  Tyler,  produced  in  pneyear  (1873)  twenty-eight 
gallons    of   good    wine).     The    Warren    grape,    a    native   of 
Georgia,   is  a  very  small,  thin-skinned,   sweet  grape  which 
grows  well,  and  is  fine  for  table  use,   and   also  makes   good 
wine.     Both  of  these  are  good  runners,  and   do  not  require 
pruning.     The  Catawba  grape  is  said  to  be  a  native  of  Bun 
combe  county  in  the  mountains  of  North    Carolina,  and  is 
one  of  our  finest  American  grapes,  both  for  eating  and  for 
making  wine.      It  requires  cultivation  and  much  pruning.     It 
grows  and  bears  well  in  most  parts  of  Texas,  but  is  more  sub-r 


n6  CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS. 

Grapes — cultivation  of  in  different  parts. 

ject  to  injury  from  excessive  moisture  in  the  maturing  season, 
than  the  scuppernong.  The  Isabella  is  very  much  like  the 
Catawba,  in  everything  except  the  color,  being  dark  brown, 
whereas  the  Catawba  is  a  clear,  greenish  yellow  color,  when 
ripe.  The  Clinton  and  the  Delaware  are  also  good  grapes, 
that  can  be  grown  here.  The  kinds  of  grapes  that  should  be 
grown  in  each  of  the  grand  divisions  of  this  state,  are  plainly 
indicated  by  the  native  grapes  in  each.  In  the  line  of  coun 
ties  on  our  eastern  border,  and  in  south-eastern  Texas  gener 
ally,  the  muscadine  abounds.  In  all  of  that  portion  of  coun 
try  north  and  west  of  the  regions  just  referred  to,  embracing 
what  has  been  designated  as  the  black-jack  belt,  the  large 
post-oak  or  sand-hill  grape  abounds.  In  the  prairies  of  the 
west,  the  Mustang  grape  abounds.  It  is  a  large,  rough 
grape,  not  fit  to  eat,  from  a  pungent  quality  pertaining  to  the 
skin  of  the  fruit,  but  it  makes  a  wine  of  good  body,  and  a  very 
superior  brandy  as  has  been  said. 

The  post-oak  grape  of  eastern  Texas  embraces  many  vari 
eties,  some  of  which  are  very  palatable,  and  make  an  excel 
lent  wine.  And  if  proper  attention  was  given  to  the  subject, 
it  is  believed  that  selections  can  be  made  from  our  own  native 
grapes,  that,  if  taken  care  of  and  cultivated,  may  be  made  a 
better  and  more  durable  grape  for  this  climate,  than  any 
that  have  been  brought  here. 

The  El  Paso  grape,  grown  on  the  Rio  Grande,  at  and  near 
El  Paso,  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  finest  grapes  in  the  world, 
both  for  table  use,  and  for  making  wine.  It  is  thought  to  be 
a  foreign  grape  introduced  by  the  Spanish  Priests  in  the 
Missions  where  it  was  cultivated  and  irrigated.  There  it  has 
the  advantage  of  ripening  under  a  clear,  sunny  sky,  and  dry 
climate,  after  having  been  properly  supplied  with  moisture  for 
its  full  growth,  by  artificial  irrigation,  which  fills  it  with  a  rich, 
luscious  juice  of  a  delightful,  sweet  flavor.  It,  though  long 
known,  and  of  great  repute,  has  as  yet  been  spread  but  very 
little  over  the  country. 

The  judgment  of  mankind,  as  evidenced  by  their  practice, 
from  the  earliest  ages,  has  favored  the  use  of  the  grape,  for 
its  nutritive  and  stimulating  qualities,  as  promotive  of  com 
fort,  health,  and  temperance.  Its  cheapness  and  abundance, 


CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS.  117 

Modes  of  raising  horses  and  cattle  in  the  past  and  present 

so  as  to  bring  it  into  common  use,  not  only  for  its  own  intrin 
sic  merits,  but  also  as  a  means  of  supplanting  and  excluding 
the  use  of  harsher  and  stronger  diet,  and  stimulants,  should 
be  sought  as  an  object  of  public  good.  And  in  this  again 
we  see,  in  the  fruitful  capacity  of  this  country  to  produce  the 
grape,  the  bounteous  provision  of  Nature  to  supply  exactly 
that  which  is  so  much  needed,  and  can  be  so  innocently  used, 
as  the  appropriate  remedy  for  the  enervating  influence  of  our 
climate. 

In  the  first  settlement  of  all  the  inhabited  portions  of  Texas, 
horses  and  cattle  were  raised  without  being  fed  at  any  time  of 
the  year.  In  the  timbered  parts  the  woods  were  open,  being 
generally  free  from  under-brush,  and  produced  abundant  grass 
for  summer ;  and  the  rivers,  creeks  and  branch  bottoms,  and 
the  adjoining  ridges,  produced  cane  or  reeds,  that  supplied 
them  in  the  winter.  There  are  still  summer  ranges  for  stock, 
though  in  many  parts  they  are  scanty  on  account  of  the  space 
occupied  by  farms,  and  the  thick  under-growth  of  bushes  which 
generally  surrounds  them.  In  the  prairies  the  grass  has  been 
so  fine  that  horses  and  cattle  have  always  been,  and  still  are, 
raised  with  but  little  other  food  than  grass,  if  any  other,  even 
during  the  winter;  though  in  all  the  portions  of  Texas  settled 
to  any  considerable  extent,  the  range  is  much  broken  up,  and 
the  large  stocks  both  of  horses  and  cattle  are  removed  further 
west,  out  of  the  vicinity  of  the  farming  settlements ;  and  as 
they  are  beaten  back,  it  is  the  policy  of  the  inhabitants  to  im 
prove  the  quality  of  their  stock,  and  prepare  fenced  pastures 
for  them,  which,  from  our  mild  climate  and  good  soils,  is 
destined  to  be  a  profitable  business.  The  exuberance  of  rich 
pasturage  here  in  early  times  gave  to  the  cattle  an  enormously 
large  size  in  bone,  body  and  horns,  with  a  prolificness  that 
encouraged  the  early  settlers  to  give  much  attention  to  raising 
cattle,  and  many  of  them  to  follow  it  as  a  regular  business. 
They  learned  much  of  this  from  the  Mexicans,  who  preceded 
them  in  throwing  the  rope  in  catching  them,  in  marking  and 
branding,  in  herding  them,  and  in  their  management  gen 
erally. 

The  mark  and  the  brand  of  stock  raisers  were  usually  the 
only  evidence  of  the  ownership  of  their  cattle  running  in  the 


n8  CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS. 


Modes  of  raising  horses  and  cattle  in  the  past  and  present. 

range,  and  the  mark  and  brand  found  on  an  animal  was  the 
means  by  which,  and  often  the  only  means  by  which  the 
owner  would  know  it  to  be  his.  In  the  spring  of  the  year, 
those  in  the  same  section  would  collect  together  and  hunt 
over  the  range  for  cattle,  drive  them  into  pens,  prepared  for 
the  purpose,  mark  and  brand  the  calves  that  followed  their 
mothers,  the  brand  of  the  cow  being  the  test  of  the  brand 
that  was  to  be  put  on  the  calf.  From  this  pen  they  would  be 
turned  out  in  the  range,  or  be  divided  out  and  driven  home, 
to  be  milked  for  a  few  months,  (rather  to  keep  them  gentle 
and  to  attach  them  to  a  particular  range,  than  to  improve  their 
milking  qualities,  which,  indeed,  was  a  matter  but  little  regard 
ed,  or  attended  to  generally).  Under  such  a  system,  the  cattle 
of  any  one  stock-raiser  would  scatter  over  a  wide  range  in  a 
few  years,  which  made  it  necessary  to  raise  horses  to  herd 
them,  and  thereby,  one  and  the  same  person  would  have  in 
the  same  range,  both  stocks  of  horses  and  stocks  of  cattle. 
In  the  raising  and  management  of  horses,  also,  much  was 
learned  from  the  Mexicans.  Twenty  or  thirty,  or  even  more, 
mares  would  be  put  together  in  the  range  with  a  stallion,  that 
would  act  as  their  keeper  and  protector  by  keeping  them 
together,  and  by  driving  off  from  them  any  stray  horse  that 
approached  them.  Large  jacks  would  perform  the  same  office. 
Thus  both  horses  and  mules  were  raised  for  use  and  for  sale, 
with  little  other  attention  than  branding,  and  occasionally 
looking  after  the  herd,  to  see  that  it  did  not  get  too  far  out  of 
its  usual  range.  These  horses  being  originally  like  the  cattle, 
mostly  of  the  Mexican  stock,  have  been  very  much  improved 
by  an  admixture  with  the  American  stock,  (as  it  is  called) 
from  other  states ;  so  that  instead  of  our  stock  of  horses  being 
Mexican  ponies  as  formerly,  they  are  often  found  to  be  large, 
fine  horses ;  and  the  same  improvement  has  been  made  in 
raising  mules.  Our  stock  laws  have  been  passed  from  time 
to  time,  founded  on,  and  with  reference  to,  these  old  customs, 
in  the  modes  of  raising  stock,  and  which  have  been  with  more 
or  less  modification  continued  down  to  the  present  time,  in  all 
parts  of  the  state  where  stock-raising  is  followed  as  a  busi 
ness.  To  the  prairies  of  Texas,  this  stock  business  has  been 
the  great  reserve-stay  against  every  adversity  of  drouths,  or 


CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS.  119 

Catching  wild  horses — Good  horsemanship — Mexican  saddle 


of  floods,  in  war  or  in  peace.  When  the  crops  would  fail 
from  drouths,  the  cattle  would  be  the  fatter  from  the  sweeter 
and  more  nutritious  grasses,  though  browned  into  hay  by  the 
heat  of  the  sun.  If  floods  of  rain  came  the  cattle  spread 
over  a  thousand  hills,  escaped  the  ruin  that  befell  the  farms, 
and  was  a  standing  resource  to  supply  the  wants  and  necessi 
ties  of  the  people.  The  cattle  of  Texas  has  flowed  out,  as  a 
continued  and  continually  enlarging  stream  of  wealth  to  other 
states,  giving  evidence  of  the  immense  resources  of  this  state. 

There  are  two  very  necessary  personal  accomplishments  in 
the  management  of  stock,  according  to  the  Texas  plan,  to  wit : 
throwing  the  rope  so  as  to  catch  animals  running  at  full  speed; 
and  the  other  is,  good  horsemanship ;  both  of  which  the 
Americans  learned  to  a  considerable  extent  from  the  Mexi 
cans.  To  perform  the  first  mentioned  feat  the  person  took  a 
pliant  rope,  coiled  at  one  end,  and  held  it  in  the  left  hand,  with 
a  running  noose  in  the  other  end,  held  in  the  right  hand,  and 
which,  being  whirled  in  a  circle  over  the  head,  was  thrown  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  let  the  animal  sought  to  be  caught  run  his 
head  into  the  open  noose  end  of  the  rope  ;  then,  holding  on  to 
the  other  end,  it  was  tightened  upon  the  neck  of  the  animal 
by  degrees  in  such  a  way  as  to  stop  its  career.  This  is  a  de 
scription  in  its  simplest  mode,  to  which  there  are  many  vari 
ations  ;  one  of  them  is  the  training  of  the  horse  ridden  to 
act  in  such  a  way  as  to  throw  down  the  animal  caught,  one 
end  of  the  rope  thrown  being  attached  to  the  horn  of  the 
saddle. 

Much  of  the  success  of  the  extraordinary  horsemanship 
depends  greatly  upon  the  construction  of  the  saddle,  and  of 
the  loose,  easy,  erect  manner  in  which  the  rider  sits  or  stands 
in  it.  The  stirrups  instead  of  being  placed  forward,  as  in 
the  English  or  old  American  saddle,  so  as  to  act  as  a  sort  of 
support  for  the  feet  and  legs,  and  which,  if  the  horse  falls 
down,  will  raise  the  rider  one-half  foot  off  of  the  saddle  and 
throw  him  clear  over  the  horse's  head,  unless  he  can  luckily 
throw  himself  back  before  he  is  hoisted  from  the  saddle,  are 
placed  far  back  in  the  real  Mexican  saddle,  so  as,  by  a  change 
of  position  of  the  feet  in  the  stirrups,  the  rider  either  sits  or 
stands  in  the  saddle,  without  be:  ig  removed  from  the  seat, 


120  CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS. 


Swine,  how  managed  with  hog-dogs. 


and  without  changing  the  erect  position  of  the  body, — the 
seat  being  the  pivot-point  of  the  body  and  limbs,  to  which  he 
holds  himself  by  grasping  the  horn  of  the  saddle  with  one 
hand,  if  necessary,  but  only  for  the  moment.  In  this  attitude 
the  rider  swings  his  whole  person  to  and  fro,  or  to  the  right  or 
left  on  this  pivot,  to  suit  the  motion  of  the  horse,  whether  he 
falls  forward  or  backward,  or  pitches,  like  the  careering  of  a 
vessel  amidst  the  waves  of  the  sea,  which  our  young  prairie 
horses  of  the  herds  are  almost  certain  to  do  until  they  are 
well  broken.  This  improvement  in  the  construction  of  the 
saddle  was,  to  some  extent,  adopted  in  the  McClellan  saddle 
of  the  United  States  army. 

SWINE. 

Hogs  were  raised,  in  early  times,  almost  entirely  in  the 
woods  or  around  the  farms,  with  little  or  no  feed  except  what 
they  got  themselves,  and  in  such  cases  the  masts  in  the  woods 
were  relied  on  to  fatten  them  for  pork.  It  was  necessary, 
however,  to  feed  them,  and  pass  about  amongst  them  in  the 
woods  enough  to  keep  them  from  going  entirely  wild,  which 
they  would  certainly  do  if  long  neglected,  particularly  where 
there  happened  to  be  abundant  masts,  or  other  means  of  sub 
sistence.  One  means  of  controlling  them  by  the  early  set 
tlers,  and  which  in  some  places  is  still  resorted  to,  was  by  hav 
ing  hog-dogs,  regularly  trained  to  hunt  them  up,  and  drive 
them  to  any  place  that  was  desired,  even  into  the  close  pen 
at  home.  Such  hogs,  thus  raised,  roamed  in  gangs  for  mu 
tual  protection  against  wild  varmints,  such  as  wolves,  pan 
thers  and  cats ;  and  when,  by  scenting  or  by  tracking,  the  dog 
would  find  a  bunch  of  them,  he  would  bark  at  them,  or  per 
haps  pounce  upon  a  small  one,  whose  squeal  would  bring  to 
gether  all  the  rest  with  a  noise  that  would  give  notice  afar  off 
of  approaching  aid  in  defense.  The  dog  would  soon  lose  his 
hold  and  retreat,  so  as  to  collect  them  in  pursuit  of  him  in  a 
body,  usually  in  the  direction  of  his  master,  after  which,  he 
would  run  around  them,  barking  at  them,  so  as  to  keep  them 
rallied  together  until  his  master  should  ride  up  near  enough  to 
see  from  the  mark  whether  they  were  his  or  not.  If  one, 
more  skittish  than  the  rest,  should-break  from  the  gang  on  his 
approach,  the  dog  would  take  after  it,  and  either  catch  it  or  head 


CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS.  121 

Dependence  on   masts  for  feeding   swine. 

it  back  to  the  gang  again,  when  another  rally  would  take  place. 
Hogs,  thus  managed,  soon  learned  the  voice  of  their  owners, 
and  the  bark  of  his  dogs ;  and,  unless  when  they  became  very 
wild  they,  when  rallied,  would  come  up  grunting  all  around 
the  horse,  looking  up  in  expectation  of  their  usual  feed  of 
corn,  which  they  were  very  apt  to  get,  when  the  dog  would 
lay  down  to  rest  at  a  respectful  distance,  until  his  master  would 
start  off  and  set  him  out  in  hunt  of  another  gang  of  hogs. 
As  good  masts  did  not  come,  or  "  hit,"  as  it  is  termed,  every 
year,  it  was  the  policy  to  have  on  hand  a  large  number  of 
breeders,  in  different  parts  of  the  range,  and  when  a  good 
mast  did  come,  close  attention  would  be  given  them,  so  as  to 
raise  a  large  number  of  pork-hogs  that  year,  which  would  be 
kept  over  from  year  to  year,  so  as  always  to  have  some  large 
hogs  that  would  get  fat  enough  to  make  pork  in  any  year. 
It  often  happened  that  the  large  hogs,  when  the  mast  missed 
at  one  place,  would  be  collected  and  driven  to  where  there 
was  mast,  and  there  watched  and  attended  to  until  they  got 
fat,  when  they  would  be  driven  back  and  killed  for  pork.  As 
the  country  settled  up  with  farms,  this  primitive  mode  of 
raising  meat  gradually  gave  way  in  most  sections  of  the 
country,  and  was  supplanted  by  the  ordinary  mode  of  raising 
hogs  around  the  farms,  giving  them  the  run  of  the  pastures 
in  the  fall  of  the  year,  and  fattening  them  with  corn  in  pens 
in  the  winter;  depending  upon  the  masts  only  contingently, 
when  they  should  be  good  enough  to  aid  in  raising  and  in 
fattening  them.  Since  the  war  this  mode,  under  the  system 
of  labor  now  prevalent  in  most  of  the  cotton-growing  por 
tions  of  Texas,  has  proved  a  failure  from  want  of  attention, 
and  from  depredations  upon  those  that  are  running  out,  that 
are  fat ;  and,  therefore,  Texas,  while  abounding  in  the  means 
of  raising  it,  is  actually  buying  her  bacon,  at  an  immense 
outlay  of  money,  that  must  be  drawn  from  the  field  crops 
annually  produced,  and  at  the  same  time  losing  the  benefit  of 
those  natural  products  of  the  country,  which  would  aid  in 
raising  hogs  if  the  matter  was  properly  attended  to.  Of  late 
years  improved  breeds  have  been  imported  into  the  country, 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  hogs  upon  the  system  of  feeding 
entirely,  as  practiced  in  older  states,  and,  from  present  indica- 


122  CULTIVATION  OF  CROPS. 

Adaptation  of  the  country  to  sheep  raising. 

tions,  that  mode  is  likely,  under  the  existing  circumstances,  to 
supplant  the  others  as  the  only  one  that  is  practicable  in  all  the 
well-settled  portions  of  the  state. 

Sheep-raising,  like  wine-making,  may  be  said  to  be  a  scien 
tific  art,  where  it  is  attempted  on  a  large  scale  for  profit.  A 
good  deal  of  attention  has  been  given  to  it  in  the  western  por 
tion  of  the  state.  It  has  been  pursued  with  eminent  success  by 
the  late  Mr.  Kendall,  and  by  others  in  the  elevated,  rugged 
country  in  the  mountains  of  the  west.  From  their  experi 
ments,  and  from  the  character  of  the  climate  and  productions 
in  all  that  high-grazing  region,  between  the  lower  edge  of  the 
mountains  and  cross-timbers,  and  the  "  Staked  Plain,"  and 
sweeping  around  from  Red  River  to  the  Rio  Grande,  we  have 
an  immense  area  pre-eminently  adapted  to  sheep-raising,  that 
will  ultimately  make  Texas  wool  and  mutton,  rival,  if  not 
excel,  its  beef  or  cotton.  When  that  vast  region  shall  be 
settled,  its  beautiful  rich  valleys  covered  with  farms  for  small 
grains,  vegetables  and  fruits,  and  with  pastures  for  improved 
stock,  and  its  mountains  and  plains  used  as  grazing  grounds 
for  sheep,  goats,  horses  and  cattle ;  its  churches  and  school- 
houses  erected,  and  attended  by  an  industrious,  thrifty,  health 
ful  and  vigorous  people ;  the  savage  Indian  banished,  and  his 
ravages  and  murders  forgotten,  it  will  be  one  of  the  most  de 
lightful  abodes  of  man  on  earth. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
MODES   OF   TRAVEL. 


Modes  of  transportation  and  travel — past  and  present, — in  Texas. 

Trains  of  pack  mules,  how  managed. 

Wagons,  and  horse  and  ox  teams,  how  managed.  The  great  benefits  of  the  ox 
teams  to  Texas,  in  cheapness  of  cost  and  expense. 

The  two-horse  wagons  introduced  since  the  war,  and  why. 

Travel  on  horseback,  in  stages,  and  in  private  carriages  and  buggies, — rough 
roads. 

Railroads — their  extent  and  sudden  construction,  their  great  and  varied  advantages 
to  Texas  at  present,  and  glowing  prospects  in  the  future.  Must  be  the  com 
mon  mode  of  transportation  throughout  the  civilized  world,  and  why. 

Steam-power  and  telegraph  revolutionizing  the  industrial  pursuits,  and  conse 
quently  the  moral,  social  and  political  status  of  mankind,  and  raising  them 
to  a  higher  plane  of  civilization.  Other  anterior  stages  considered  with  their 
moving  causes ;  discoveries  of  use  fo  metals,  gunpowder  and  printing  press 
The  mainspring  of  civilization  developed. 

Manufactories' — advantages  of,  and  prospect  of  increasing,  &c. 

Individual   wealth — modes   of  honorably  acquiring  it  in  Texas  heretofore  and 


In  the  early  settlement  of  Texas  by  the  Mexicans,  the  only 
mode  of  transporting  the  commerce  of  the  country  was  by 
trains  of  pack-mules.  The  mules  were  provided  with  pack- 
saddles  tightly  fastened  upon  them  by  girths  and  cruppers ; 
and  flour,  iron,  boxes  or  bales  of  dry  goods,  bags  of  silver  and 
other  articles  were  fastened  upon  the  saddle,  for  which  the 
mules  were  trained  to  get  down  upon  their  knees,  or  even 
lower.  When  packed  they  were  turned  loose  in  a  drove,  and 
one  person  going  before,  and  another  behind  the  drove,  they 
followed  each  other  in  the  road  or  trail.  At  night  the  mules 
were  turned  out  to  graze,  and  the  drivers  camped  and  kept 
watch  over  them  by  the  side  of  the  road.  The  "  King's 
Highway,"  or  as  it  was  often  called  in  eastern  Texas,  the 
"San  Antonio  Road,"  was  the  great  thoroughfare  through 
Texas  from  the  Sabine  to  the  Rio  Grande,  passing  through 
Nacogdoches  and  San  Antonio.  It  was  nothing  more  than  a 

123 


124  MODES  OF  TRAVEL. 

Transportation  by  ox  teams. 

mule  trail,  the  deep,  narrow  cut  of  which  in  the  ground  may 
yet  be  seen  in  many  places  in  eastern,  middle  and  western 
Texas. 

As  the  Americans  settled  in  the  country,  this  mode  gradu 
ally  gave  place  to  carts  and  wagons  drawn  by  oxen,  mules 
and  horses,  for  which  it  became  necessary  to  construct  roads, 
ferries,  and  bridges.  The  ox  teams  may  be  said  to  have  been 
for  many  years  our  principal  mode  of  transportation.  A  team 
of  two,  three,  and  four  yokes,  was  generally  used  for  that 
purpose.  The  Mexicans  tied  the  yokes  to  the  horns  of  the 
oxen  with  raw-hide  strings  or  straps,  and  drove  the  team  with 
out  lines,  by  a  " sharp  stick;  "  but  the  Americans  worked  the 
yokes  on  the  neck  of  the  oxen,  confined  there  with  bows, 
and  drove  the  team  with  the  call  of  the  voice  and  a  long 
whip,  and  without  lines,  the  driver  walking  usually  about  even 
with  the  heads  of  the  tongue  (or  rear)  yoke,  so  as  to  have 
full  command  of  the  team  in  making  them  pull,  or  hold  back, 
as  one  or  the  other  might  be  required.  There  is  great  art  in 
the  good  training,  and  management  of  such  a  team,  and  it  is 
a  noticeable  fact  that  the  best  ox  drivers  were  generally  men 
sedate  in  their  manner,  and  rather  slow  in  their  motion*  and 
n.  .vements.  These  teams  were  both  fed  and  grazed  on  the 
road,  and  their  drivers  camped  out,  which  for  the  time  made 
it  a  hard  employment.  The  large  growth  of  cattle  in  early 
times,  and  still  in  the  west,  has  enabled  us  to  have  very  fine 
ox  teams  at  a  cheap  cost  and  small  expense,  which  made 
them  far  preferable  to  horse  and  mule  teams  that  had  to  be 
fed,  without  the  advantage  of  grazing  on  the  trip,  and  which 
required  more  care  and  attention.  With  the  long  delay  in 
getting  railroads,  and  the  little  reliance  placed  upon  our  rivers, 
the  ox  team,  slow  as  it  is,  was  of  almost  incalculable  advan 
tage  to  the  people  of  Texas.  Still,  notwithstanding  its  cheap 
cost  and  little  expense,  this  mode  of  transportation  must  have 
cost  the  people  of  Texas,  upon  an  average  during  its  preva 
lence,  at  least  one-tenth  or  twentieth  of  all  the  produce  which 
they  carried  to  market,  besides  a  great  loss  in  the  wear  of 
teams,  and  in  the  injured  health  of  the  drivers,  from  the  nec 
essary  hardship  and  exposure  in  such  an  occupation. 

The  ox  teams,  in  all  sections  of  the  state  that  are  traversed 


MODES  OF  TRAVEL.  125 

Other  modes  of  travel — rough  roads. 

by  railroads,  are  fast  being  abandoned,  and  in  their  stead  are 
being  used  two-horse,  or  two-mule  teams,  the  wagons  for 
which  have  been  mostly  supplied  to  us  by  the  north-western 
states,  an  immense  number  having  been  brought  here 
and  sold.  They  answer  the  purpose  of  short,  fast  trips,  and 
suit  better  the  changed  mode  of  farming  in  connection  with 
railroad  transportation. 

The  mode  of  travel  in  early  times  was  entirely  on  horse 
back.  The  inhabitants  generally  were  so  averse  to  walking, 
even  a  small  distance,  that  it  was  a  common  observation  that 
"  a  man  would  walk  two  miles  to  get  a  horse  to  ride  one."  In 
traveling  they  generally  went  prepared  to  camp  out,  an  old 
Texan  being  rarely  caught  without  his  blanket  for  protection, 
and  rope  to  stake  out  his  horse.  After  the  roads  were  cut 
out,  and  the  settlements  enlarged,  stages  and  hacks  were  in 
troduced,  and,  before  the  late  civil  war,  were  spread  all  over 
the  state,  in  which  the  riding  was  rough  and  slow,  and  often 
very  laborious,  as  the  passenger  sometimes  had  to  pay  dearly 
by  working  and  walking  on  his  journey.  Private  carriages 
and  buggies  were  resorted  to,  the  use  of  which,  however,  was 
much  discouraged  by  the  rough  roads,  as  the  Texas  people 
never  did  like  to  work  their  roads,  and  do  not  yet. 

Such  modes  of  travel  are  yet  common  in  those  districts  of 
country  where  there  are  no  railroads ;  but  travelers  are  now 
entertained  at  farm  houses  in  the  country,  and  in  hotels  in  the 
towns. 

Our  system  of  railroads  has,  as  it  were,  leaped  into  exis 
tence  within  the  last  twenty  years,  simply  because  the  time 
had  arrived  when  the  states,  east  and  north  of  us,  having  been 
supplied  with  them,  Texas  was  an  open  field  for  investment 
in  their  progress  westward  and  southward, — a  progress  that 
must  continue  in  every  direction  until  inland  transportation  is 
the  common  mode  throughout  the  civilized  world. 

Up  to  A.  D.  1870,  there  had  been  but  little  progress  in 
building  railroads  in  Texas.  They  were  very  short  routes,  as 
shown  by  the  heavy  black  lines  in  the  railroad  map,  extend 
ing  only  five  hundred  miles.  Since  that  time,  and  up  to  the 
present,  they  have  been  greatly  extended,  and  new  routes 
have  been  constructed,  (or  will  be  by  January,  1882)  as  indi- 


126  MODES  OF  TRAVEL. 

The  extent  and  sudden  Construction  of  railroads. 

have  been  constructed,  (or  will  be  by  January,  1882)  as  indi 
cated  by  the  crossed  lines  in  the  map.  Numerous  other 
charters  for  roads  have  been  taken  out,  many  of  which  will 
doubtless  be  speedily  built,  as  indicated  by  the  dotted  lines. 
Also,  charters  for  roads  running  through  other  parts  of  the 
state  have  been  secured,  which  are  not  laid  down  on  our  map. 
It  will  be  observed  that  the  roads  are  laid  off  so  as  to  connect 
the  gulf  coast  with  the  railroads  reaching  Red  River  from 
Arkansas  and  the  Indian  Territory,  by  several  routes  already, 
and  by  others  in  the  course  of  construction.  These  are  the 
International  and  Great  Northern,  the  Houston  and  Texas 
Central,  the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas,  and  the  Texas  and 
St.  Louis  Narrow  Gauge  roads,  with  their  connections.  While 
these  roads,  for  the  past  and  present,  serve  greatly  to  carry 
the  produce  of  Texas  into  markets  north  and  north-east  of 
Texas,  it  is  only  necessary  for  our  Gulf  ports  to  be  made  to 
have  deep  water,  to  convert  those  roads  into  feeders  for  the 
increased  commerce  flowing  through  our  own  ports. 

In  addition  to  these  main  lines  we  have  others  leading  to 
our  Texas  Ports ;  as  the  East  Texas  to  Sabine  Pass ;  the  Gulf 
Colorado  and  Santa  Fee  to  Galveston ;  the  Gulf  and  West 
Texas  to  Indianola ;  the  Corpus  Christi  and  Rio  Grande, 
(lately  changed  to  Texas  and  Mexican  Railroad)  leading  to 
Corpus  Christi.  We  have  at  least  three  railroads  in  Texas, 
that  are  designed  to  have  connections  that  will  make  them 
thoroughfares  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans,  upon 
the  shortest  and  most  practicable  routes,  during  all  seasons  of 
the  year.  These  are  the  Texas  and  Pacific  now  rapidly  being 
built  towards  El  Paso  on  our  western  border;  the  International 
and  Great  Northern  now  rapidly  approaching  Laredo  on  the 
Rio  Grande  ;  the  Southern  Pacific  (Huntingdon's  road)  coming 
from  El  Paso  to  meet  the  extension  of  the  Galveston,  Harris- 
burg  and  San  Antonio  railway.  The  two  narrow  gauge  roads, 
to  wit :  Texas  and  St.  Louis,  and  the  Texas  and  Mexican, 
doubtless,  also,  are  intended  to  form  connections  with  roads 
going  to  the  Pacific  coast. 

Thus  Texas  will  not  only  be  accommodated  very  soon  with 
railroads  in  all  parts  of  the  state,  but  she  will  be  in  the  center 
of  the  passage  of  an  immense  commerce  from  the  Atlantic 


MODES  OF  TRAVEL.  127 

The  extent  and  sudden  construction  of  railroads. 

erly  opened,  a  cheaper  water-transportation  will  be  reached 
through  her  ports,  by  which  the  high-priced  land-transporta 
tion  in  going  both  ways  across  the  continent  will  be  saved. 
The  fact  that  water-transportation  is,  and  always  will  be, 
cheaper  than  land-transportation,  will  make  our  Texas  ports  be 
sought  on  the  route  half-way  across  the  continent  in  going 
both  ways  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Oceans.  All  that 
we  will  need  to  certainly  secure  that  object  are  deep  water  on 
our  bars,  and  facilities  for  handling  the  commerce. 

The  railroads  now  constructed  extend  over  most  of  the  set 
tled  portions  of  the  state ;  and,  therefore,  most  of  its  com 
merce  is  being  transported  to  and  from  market  by  railroads, 
except  the  large  droves  of  cattle  and  horses  that  are  driven 
on  foot  to  market.  The  saving,  thereby,  to  the  annual  wealth 
of  the  state  in  the  diminished  expense  of  the  transportation  of 
its  marketable  produce,  must  be  not  less  than  one-third,  and 
perhaps  one-half,  of  the  former  expense,  under  the  ox  team 
mode  of  transportation.  This  supposed  estimate  does  not  in 
clude  the  advantages  in  the  saving  of  time ;  in  the  wear  of 
teams ;  of  a  quick  market,  in  numerous  articles  thereby  made 
marketable  which  were  not  so  before ;  in  the  general  impetus 
given  to  production  and  trade  of  all  sorts,  and  in  the  gradual 
increase  of  population,  labor  and  capital.  All  these  increased 
advantages  to  the  country,  the  railroads  are  gradually  but  cer 
tainly  introducing.  These  and  other  advantages  are  not  so 
ostensibly  prominent  yet  as  to  have  prevented  much  disap 
pointment  in  the  expectations  of  the  people,  as  to  the  imme 
diate  effects  of  the  making  of  railroads  in  this  state.  The 
reason  of  this  is,  that  they  expected  too  much  immediate  benefit 
in  the  enhancing  the  price  of  their  lands,  and  in  the  cheap 
ness  of  transportation;  not  appreciating  fully  the  fact,  that 
the  price  of  lands  must,  in  the  main,  depend  on  the  demand 
for  them ;  and  that  must  depend  upon  the  population,  the 
labor  and  capital  to  profitably  cultivate  them ;  and,  also,  the 
fact  that  railroads  having  been  built,  as  an  investment  of  cap 
ital  for  profit,  will  not  reduce  the  price  of  transportation  to 
the  lowest  standard  of  which  it  is  practically  susceptible,  unti 
there  are  enough  of  them  in  different  hands  to  produce  com 
petition. 


I2g  MODES  OF  TRAVEL. 

Civilizing  influence  of  the  early  inventions. 

But  that  these  advantages,  whether  we  see  and  feel  them 
now  or  not,  will  flow  in  upon  us  with  many  more  not  enu_ 
merated,  is  as  certain  as  that  a  people  will  follow  their  own 
interests  in  prosecuting  their  own  pursuits.  For  the  steam  en 
gine  in  its  application  to  transportation,  as  well  as  the  thou 
sand  other  uses  to  which  it  has  already  been  applied,  is  tran- 
scendently  the  greatest  labor-saving  invention  that  has  ever 
been  made.  In  its  broad  sweep,  wherever  it  goes,  it  is  rev 
olutionizing  the  whole  face  of  society  in  its  industrial  pursuits, 
and,  as  an  ultimate  though  necessary  consequence,  in  its  social, 
moral  and  political  status,  giving  everything  pertaining  to  it 
an  impetus  unknown  before,  and  making  its  advent  into  every 
country  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  human  affairs,  ascend 
ing  upon  a  higher  plane  of  civilization.  Indeed,  the  main 
spring  of  civilization  is  the  discovery  and  application  by  man 
of  the  laws  of  the  Creator,  by  which  the  animate  and  inani 
mate  objects  of  Nature  are  made  to  increase  the  muscular 
power  of  man  in  the  performance  of  useful  work.  To  ap 
preciate  the  correctness  of  this  proposition,  it  must  be  consid 
ered  that  civilization  has  occupied  three,  and  so  far  as  we  can 
know  only  three,  well-defined  stages  above  semi-barbarism. 
The  first  was  attained  by  the  discovery  of  the  use  of  the 
metals  which  made  man  a  farmer,  and  conferred  upon  him 
numerous  consequent  advantages  over  and  above  his  previous 
wandering,  tribal  condition  as  hunter  and  herdsman.  The 
second  stage  was  attained  by  the  discovery  and  the  use  of 
gunpowder,  and  of  the  printing  press  about  the  same  period, 
which  protected  the  mass  of  men  in  the  peaceful  pursuit  of 
agriculture,  by  the  use  of  arms  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  and 
allowed  the  great  body  of  the  people  to  acquire  a  degree  of 
learning  and  intelligence  never  by  them  attainable  before,  and 
largely  increased  the  number  of  those  who  devoted  themselves 
to  the  cultivation  of  the  arts,  sciences,  and  refinements  of  so 
cial  life. 

The  third  stage  was  attained,  or,  perhaps  more  properly  it 
may  be  said,  is  now  being  attained,  by  the  discovery  and  ap 
plication  of  the  power  of  the  steam  engine,  and  of  the  tele 
graph,  which  are  giving  to  all  human  affairs  a  speed,  intensi 
ty,  and  compass,  never  before  conceived  to  be  possible ;  which, 


MODES  OF  TRAVEL.  129 


Mainspring  of  civilization  developed. 


in  their  ultimate  results,  will  produce  a  phase  of  social  organ 
ization,  not  yet  fully  formed  and  developed,  to  a  fixed  deter 
minate  standard.  Enough  progress  has,  however,  been  made 
towards  its  full  development  to  manifest  some  extraordinary 
changes  in  the  previous  condition  of  things,  with  their  promi 
nent  tendencies ;  amongst  which  may  be  enumerated  the  in 
crease  in  the  ardent  pursuit  of  individual  wealth,  and  the  rapid 
and  large  accumulations  of  it ;  the  consequent  demoralization 
in  all  the  varied  means  of  its  acquisition,  and  the  extravagant 
display  of  it ;  the  increased  tendency  to  the  co-operative  ef 
fort  of  labor,  capital  and  mind  in  all  enterprises  directed  to 
wards  material  development,  whether  of  a  private  or  public 
character;  and,  (equally  conspicuous  with  any  other,)  the 
marked  tendency  towards  the  centralization  of  political  or 
ganizations.  Now,  notwithstanding  that  in  the  breaking  up 
of  old  ideas  and  habits  and  modes  of  life,  and  a  reconstruc 
tion  of  them  upon  another  basis,  many  evils  may  follow  in 
the  train  of  events,  still  it  is  fair  to  conclude,  that,  as  in  each 
of  the  other  periods  of  revolution  that  have  been  mentioned, 
society  emerged  from  them  on  a  higher  plane  or  stage  of  civ 
ilization,  so  it  must  again  be  the  case.  It  is  easy  now  to 
anticipate  with  certainty  the  vast  increase  of  wealth,  intelli 
gence  and  refinement  that  this  power  will  soon  spread  broad 
cast  over  Texas,  when  it  is  contemplated  that  by  it  its  mark 
etable  articles  are  greatly  increased  both  in  number  and 
quality,  and  the  facility  of  reaching  the  greater  number  of 
markets  for  its  produce  is  largely  increased ;  and  that  a  large 
portion  of  the  great  and  growing  north-west  will  find  through 
the  center  of  Texas  on  different  routes  an  outlet  to,  and  in 
gress  from  the  gulf;  (the  nearest  salt  water)  and  that  the  sev 
eral  Pacific  railroads  will,  in  a  few  years,  open  up  through 
Texas  the  trade  to  and  from  the  Pacific  coast,  unembarassed 
by  the  snows  of  winter;  and  that  the  International  railroad, 
being  exactly  on  the  track  of  the  shortest  line  from  the  City 
of  New  York  to  the  Pacific  coast,  and  when  completed,  being, 
from  the  winds  and  currents  of  the  oceans,  in  the  very  best 
line  of  communication  by  sailing  vessels  between  western 
Asia  and  the  United  States,  and  western  Europe,  with  the 
advantage  of  easy  access  to  the  gulf  at  the  half-way  passage 

0 


130  MODES  OF  TRAVEL. 


Facilities  for  increasing  manufactories. 


through  the  continent,  and  penetrating  into  the  tropics  in 
Mexico,  will  pour  into  and  through  Texas  a  rich  stream  of 
commerce,  and  open  to  her  productions  an  expanse  of  trade 
on  the  value  of  which  it  is  now  difficult  to  make  any  approxi 
mate  calculation. 

MANUFACTORIES — A  NECESSITY  TO  PERFECT  OUR  NATIONAL 

WEALTH. 

Manufactories  in  every  country  have  depended  largely 
upon  the  amount  of  labor  and  surplus  capital  within  it, 
as  well  as  upon  the  facility  of  transporting  the  manufac 
tured  articles.  In  all  these  requisites,  Texas  has  heretofore 
been  deficient ;  consequently  but  little  progress  has  been 
made.  Still  our  condition  in  that  respect  is  improving,  and 
the  cheapness  of  the  materials  and  provisions  here,  with  the 
advantages  of  our  climate,  must  sooner  or  later  invite  capital 
and  enterprise  in  that  direction. 

Now  that  we  have  railroad  connections  with  the  other  states, 
we  can  begin  to  contemplate  the  advantages  of  establishing 
factories  in  Texas,  particularly  for  cotton-spinning,  leather, 
and  for  the  manufacture  of  implements  of  husbandry,  and  for 
making  railroad  irons.  For  cotton-spinning  factories  we  have 
a  population  well  adapted  since  the  war,  on  account  of  the 
large  number  of  widows  and  children,  who  could  be  profita 
bly  employed  in  such  business,  if  we  had  the  necessary  skill, 
capital  and  enterprise. 

For  tanning  leather  we  have  great  facilities,  (at  least  for 
making  leather  to  be  exported  in  a  rough  state)  on  account 
of  the  cheapness  of  hides  and  abundance  of  bark  to  be  ob 
tained  in  the  clearing  of  farms,  in  the  timbered  sections  of  the 
state.  Besides  which,  our  climate  will  enable  the  process  of 
tanning  to  be  carried  on  during  the  whole  year ;  and  we  have 
an  abundance  of  good  water  for  the  purpose. 

The  railroads  have  already  to  some  extent  connected  the 
good  coal  with  the  iron  ore ;  both  of  which  abound  in  this 
state,  inviting  labor  and  capital  to  profitable  employment. 

When  these  would  be  started,  other  connected  industries 
would  follow  in  their  train,  and  Texas  would  have  the  benefits 
of  manufacturing  her  own  raw  materials  for  export  as  well  as 
home  consumption. 


INDIVIDUAL  WEALTH.  131 

Modes  of  acquiring  it. 

INDIVIDUAL   WEALTH. 

As  in  the  first  chapter  some  views  were  presented,  as  to  the 
process  by  which  national  wealth  is  acquired,  so  in  conclu 
sion  it  may  be  profitable  to  consider  how  individual  wealth 
has  been,  and  still  may  be,  acquired  in  Texas.  They  depend 
upon  very  similar  principles,  labor  being  the  foundation  of 
both ;  and  both  being  attained  by  the  accumulation  and  per 
petuation  of  labor,  mental  or  physical,  fixed  or  piled  up  in 
durable  shapes,  so  as  to  continue  to  produce  values. 

It  is  now  too  often  said,  that  the  time  is  past  to  make  for 
tunes  in  Texas.  That  is  a  great  mistake  of  those  who  have 
not  well  considered  the  principles  upon  which  substantial  for 
tunes  have  been  made  here.  Another  injurious  error  is  the 
supposition  entertained,  that  fortunes  have  been  made  here 
by  some  good  turn  in  one's  private  affairs,  or  what  is  called 
"  good  luck."  It  would  be  well  for  the  world,  perhaps,  if  all  the 
real  fruits  of  good  luck,  lotteries,  swindling  speculations,  and 
other  mere  gambling  operations  could  be  thrown  into  the  sea. 
Fortunes  so  made,  apart  from  the  demoralizing  fascinations 
fraught  with  evil  influences,  are  seldom  permanent,  under  the 
homely  adage,  "come  easy,  go  easy."  It  is  a  bubble  as  readily 
broken  as  blown.  A  fact  that  should  discourage  the  wild  hunt 
after  such  accumulations  is,  that  there  are  very  few  men  capa 
ble  of  retaining  property  that  has  not  been  acquired  in  some 
regular  train  of  honest  business  of  utility.  The  pursuit  of  a 
train  of  useful  business  presents  a  reasonable  certainty  of  suc 
cess  to  every  one  who  will  intelligently  and  persistently  follow 
it  in  this  state,  and  thereby  avoid  the  numerous  civil  and 
criminal  pitfalls  of  creeping  chance,  and  vaulting  luck. 
It  is  in  such  regular  train  of  business  that  fortunes  have  gen 
erally  been  made  in  Texas,  and  so  they  will  generally  be 
made,  wherever  made  and  kept  permanently. 

As  national  wealth  cannot  arrive  to  any  great  magnitude 
by  the  labor  of  one  generation,  so  individual  wealth  of  great 
magnitude  cannot  be  acquired  by  the  labor,  physical  or  in 
tellectual,  of  one  man,  without  the  labor  of  others  being  add 
ed  thereto,  in  the  course  of  even  a  long  life-time. 

It  is  an  easy  matter  for  any  young  man,  by  reasonable  in 
dustry  and  economy,  to  acquire  a  home  in  Texas  and  improve 


I32 


INDIVIDUAL  WEALTH. 


Modes  of  acquiring  it. 


it  so  as  to  acquire  an  independent  living,  rear  a  family,  give 
them  an  ordinary  education,  and  start  his  children  in  the 
world  with  advantages  equal  to  his  own,  if  not  better.  But 
suppose  he  should  have  an  ambition  to  acquire  a  fortune  be 
yond  the  condition  of  an  independent  citizen,  living  in  his 
own  home,  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  then  he  must  get  up  a 
train  of  business  that  will  give  him  the  advantage  of  the  la 
bor  of  others  as  well  as  of  himself. 

The  problem  is,  how  may  this  be  done  honorably,  and 
without  injustice  to  any  one  This  may  be  well  illustrated 
by  a  few  examples.  There  was  a  young  man  settled  in  a  town 
in  eastern  Texas  as  a  merchant,  over  forty  years  ago.  He  had 
a  small  capital,  good  business  capacity,  and  great  energy  and 
foresight.  He  bought  on  a  credit  in  New  Orleans  about  ten 
thousand  dollars  worth  of  goods,  and  sold  them  out.  The 
monetary  crash  came,  and  he  could  not  collect  the  money. 
He  converted  his  debts  into  land  certificates,  and  had  them 
well  located,  making  his  lands  cost  him  less  than  twenty-five 
cents  per  acre.  As  immigrants  came  in,  he  sold  at  one  dollar 
per  acre,  parts  of  his  large  tracts,  and  re-invested  in  other 
locations  further  out.  Settlements  were  formed  about  and 
around  his  lands  unsold,  and  then  he  got  two,  three,  and  finally 
five  dollars  per  acre  for  his  lands.  In  thirty-five  years  he  was 
worth  more  than  one-half  a  million  of  dollars.  He  had 
acquired  this  large  amount  while  preserving  the  most  honor 
able  deportment  in  all  of  his  transactions,  and  without  hard 
exactions  or  litigation.  It  was  by  the  simple  process  of  get 
ting  the  benefit  of  other  person's  labor  in  building  up  their 
own  farms,  and  in  making  neighborhoods  with  churches  and 
school-houses,  around  his  own  lands ;  thereby  adding  an  in 
creased  value  to  his  lands,  as  they  increased  that  of  their  own. 
It  was  generally  supposed  that  he  was  a  good  trader,  whereas, 
in  fact,  he  mere'y  put  himself  in  and  persistently  followed  a 
legitimate  train  of  business,  and  instead  of  oppressing  any 
one  by  unreasonable  exactions,  and  hard  bargains,  was  an  ad 
vantage  to  thousands  of  people  by  his  liberal  indulgence 
when  necessary. 

A  similar  result  was  attained  by   a  professional   man   who 
settled  in  a  town  in  Texas  over  thirty-five  years  ago ;  who  in- 


INDIVIDUAL  WEALTH.  133 

Modes  of  acquiring  it. 

vested  his  surplus  gains  in  lots  and  lands  in  and  about  the 
town.  It  is  now  a  city,  and  he  is  a  rich  man, — made  so, 
mainly  by  the  brick  and  mortar  put  up  on  adjoining  lots,  or 
on  those  he  sold  off,  by  which  the  value  of  those  retained 
has  been  increased. 

Another  more  common  case  is  that  of  a  young  man  who 
came  to  Texas  thirty-nine  years  ago  with  but  little  education, 
and  no  capacity  for  enterprise  of  any  sort,  except  honesty, 
industry  and  economy.  He  hired  himself  to  work  by  the 
month,  and  in  a  few  years  he  had  a  good  little  farm  on  which 
he  lived,  and  made  a  respectable  living  for  himself  and  family, 
until  his  boys  were  able  to  add  their  labor  to  his.  That  gave 
him  the  idea  of  accumulation  by  the  labor  of  others  besides 
his  own,  and  he  acted  on  it.  He  is  now  the  possessor  of  a 
large  farm,  and  LJ  one  of  the  best  and  most  thrifty  farmers  in 
his  section  of  the  state,  and  has  been  enabled  to  do  a  far  bet 
ter  part  by  his  children,  than  if  they  had  grown  up  in  idleness, 
or  without  a  purpose.  Yet  that  man,  though  in  good  circum 
stances,  and  respected  by  all  of  his  neighbors  as  a  good  man 
and  a  good  citizen,  will  go  to  one  of  his  more  learned  neigh 
bors  to  write  a  note  for  him,  unless  one  of  his  children  hap 
pens  to  be  on  hand  to  write  it. 

So  it  is  in  the  trades  and  professions,  as  well  as  in  agricul 
ture,  that  the  labor  of  others  may  benefit  you  in  a  legitimate 
business,  while  it  is  equally  beneficial  to  them. 

While,  therefore,  simple  independence  by  one's  own  labor 
is  and  should  be  regarded  as  the  honorable  position  of  the 
Texan  citizen,  to  which  any  good  man  may  easily  attain,  an 
honorable  road  to  fortune  lies  open  to  any  one  whose  am 
bition  leads  in  that  direction,  to  his  own  and  the  public 
benefit. 


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